SYRIA: U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan meets Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem, says Syrian government must take bold steps to signal that it is serious about solving the 14-month crisis that has seen thousands killed

Record ID: 280870

  • Title: SYRIA: U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan meets Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem, says Syrian government must take bold steps to signal that it is serious about solving the 14-month crisis that has seen thousands killed
  • Date: 29th May 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (MAY 28, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF U.N.-ARAB LEAGUE ENVOY KOFI ANNAN'S CONVOY LEAVING HOTEL VARIOUS OF MEETING BETWEEN ANNAN AND SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WALID AL-MOUALLEM HOTEL, EARLIER IN THE DAY VARIOUS OF THE OBSERVERS PUTTING THEIR LUGGAGE IN CAR, EARLIER IN DAY VARIOUS OF AN OBSERVER PUTTING FLAK JACKET IN CAR, EARLIER IN DAY VARIOUS OF OBSERVER
  • Embargoed: 13th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVADP23CIPEGR4GOE3HXWNASXLR6
  • Story Text: U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem on Monday (May 28) after flying into the Syrian capital, Damascus, to try to bolster support for his six-week-old ceasefire plan to end more than 14 months bloodshed in the country.
    Annan arrived the day after the U.N. Security Council issued its condemnation of an attack on the Syrian town of Houla in which at least 108 people, including children had been killed.
    The ceasefire has been widely flouted in reported instances of shelling of civilian areas, bombings and other violence with the Syrian government and the opposition trading blame.
    A U.N. ceasefire monitor mission, due to be 300-strong by the end of May was continuing its field work on Monday.
    Earlier in the day the mission chief said progress was being made in violence reduction at grassroots level.
    Annan when he arrived, said he was urging the Syrian government to take bold steps to signal its serious intention on resolving the crisis.
    He added that his message of peace was for "every individual with a gun".
    Annan brokered an April 12 ceasefire agreement, part of a broader six-point plan aimed at ending the bloodshed which has engulfed the uprising against Assad and leading towards a negotiated solution.
    But the truce has not held and hundreds of people have been killed in the last six weeks.
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