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    March 13, 2012

UN Envoy Expects Syrian Response

   VOA News
   UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan speaks to the media after meeting with
   representatives of opposition Syrian National Council, in Ankara,
   Turkey, March 13, 2012.
   Photo: Reuters
   UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan speaks to the media after meeting with
   representatives of opposition Syrian National Council, in Ankara,
   Turkey, March 13, 2012.

   Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan says he expects the Syria government to
   respond on Tuesday to his proposals to resolve the country's deadly
   unrest from an ongoing crackdown on dissent.
   "I am expecting to hear from the Syrian authorities today since I have
   left some concrete proposals for them to consider. Once I receive their
   answer we will know how to react. But let me say the killing and
   violence must cease," said Annan.
   Annan, now the U.N.-Arab League special envoy for Syria, commented in
   Turkey after meeting with members of the Syrian National Council, the
   main opposition grouping outside Syria. Annan left Damascus on Sunday,
   after two days of talks ended without a settlement.
   Meanwhile, Syrian news reports say President Bashar al-Assad has set
   May 7 as the date for parliamentary elections. The elections are part
   of what the government calls a series of reforms based on a new
   constitution approved by referendum in February.
   Opposition groups say the constitution is illegitimate and are
   demanding Assad must leave power.
   Also Tuesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
   said army defectors ambushed a military checkpoint in northern Idlib
   province, killing at least 10 Syrian soldiers.
   Meanwhile, [1]Human Rights Watch issued a report saying Syrian forces
   have placed landmines near the country's borders with Turkey and
   Lebanon. The group called the practice "unconscionable" and urged the
   Syrian army to cease its use of anti-personnel mines.
   The United States, Britain and Russia have each called for a halt to
   the violence in Syria, but the United Nations Security Council remains
   divided on how to resolve the crisis.
   Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country will press
   Syria to accept a plan that calls for a "simultaneous" truce between
   government forces and armed rebels.
   He commented Tuesday, a day after Security Council foreign ministers
   met in New York.
   Russia and China have vetoed Security Council resolutions condemning
   the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on its opponents. They say the
   resolutions called for interfering in Syria's internal affairs.
   British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Security Council has
   "failed" in its responsibilities to the Syrian people and that the
   diplomatic challenge now is to build on areas where the international
   community agrees.
   "It is encouraging that everybody is talking about a political process.
   Everybody is now talking about humanitarian aid being delivered, about
   a cessation of violence and everybody on the United Nations Security
   Council of course is supporting the work of Kofi Annan. So there are
   now many common elements, but the task of bringing them together in a
   resolution remains," said Hague.
   U.N. officials estimate that 7,500 people have died in the year-long
   violence.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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References

   1. http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/13/syria-army-planting-banned-landmines
   2. http://middleeastvoices.com/
   3. http://twitter.com/#!/mideastvoice
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