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UN envoy Kofi Annan arrives in Syria
Annan heads to crisis-hit Syria for talks with President Bashar Al-Assad
Annan on Saturday made proposals on stopping the violence between security forces and the opposition in the year-old revolt against Assad, access for humanitarian agencies, release of detainees and the start of political dialogue. (AFP/Getty Images)
The talks were “candid and comprehensive”, a spokesman quoted Annan as saying. He was to meet Assad again on Sunday before leaving Syria for Qatar. (AFP/Getty Images)
Assad told U.N./Arab League envoy Annan Syria was “ready to make a success of any honest effort to find a solution for the events it is witnessing”, state news agency SANA reported. (AFP/Getty Images)
“No political dialogue or political activity can succeed while there are armed terrorist groups operating and spreading chaos and instability,” he said. (AFP/Getty Images)
Thousands have been killed in Syria since a popular uprising against Assad erupted a year ago. (AFP/Getty Images)
While Annan and Assad discussed the crisis, Syrian troops were assaulting the northwestern city of Idlib, a rebel bastion. (AFP/Getty Images)
“Regime forces have just stormed into Idlib with tanks and heavy shelling is now taking place,” said an activist contacted by telephone, the sound of explosions punctuating the call. (AFP/Getty Images)
Sixteen rebel fighters, seven soldiers and four civilians were killed in the Idlib fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said 15 other people, including three soldiers, had been killed in violence elsewhere. (AFP/Getty Images)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who met Annan in Cairo earlier in the day, told the Arab League his country was “not protecting any regime”, but did not believe the Syrian crisis could be blamed on one side alone. (AFP/Getty Images)
