Annan warns of ‘grave’ crisis as UN holds fresh Syria talks
UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan speaks to the press in Damascus on May 29, 2012, following his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In his meeting with Assad, Annan conveyed ‘the grave concern of the international community about the violence in Syria, including in particular the recent events in Houla,’ his office said.
The United Nations Security Council today held closed-door sessions on the Syrian crisis in a bid to unite divided world powers behind a plan that will end the humanitarian crisis there, reported The Associated Press.
Russia, a Syria ally and veto-wielding member of the powerful United Nations Security Council, has complicated international efforts to end a political crisis there that the UN says has left some 10,000 people dead.
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The meeting comes two days after key nations — including Russia — threw their support behind a new plan put forward by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan that would install a transitional government there.
The idea is to form a cabinet including those loyal to embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose brutal crackdown on the over year-old anti-government revolt has drawn widespread criticism, and members of the country's rebel forces, reports said.
Annan told officials in Geneva today that the world "will judge us all harshly if we prove incapable of taking the right path today," according to AP.
Diplomats are not hopeful that today's talks will result in a united stance on the Syrian issue, said AP.
Separately, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday said “the bloodiest week of the Syrian Revolution" took place over June 20-26, with a reported 916 people killed, said Al Arabiya.