Syria crisis: Kofi Annan to hold talks with Assad

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to hold talks with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, in a fresh diplomatic bid to end the violence.UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Mr Annan would call for an immediate ceasefire by the army and the opposition.

Activists said government forces killed 77 people across Syria on Friday.Earlier, UN aid chief Valerie Amos said "limited progress" had been made on taking aid to the worst-hit areas in Syria, but much more was needed.Baroness Amos said she had requested full access to the worst-hit areas, but the government had asked for more time.
Calls for reform that began with pro-democracy protests a year ago have degenerated into violence that has brought Syria to the brink of civil war.

The UN says more than 7,500 people have died as a result of the violence.Mr Annan's meeting with President Assad - scheduled for Saturday morning - was announced in New York by UN Secretary-General Mr Ban.Mr Ban said he had held a conference call with Mr Annan and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi.All three of us share the same concerns, same priorities and same approaches," he said.

"Our priority is, first of all, all violence must stop, whether by government forces (or) opposition forces.
I have very strongly urged Kofi Annan to ensure that there must be an immediate ceasefire."
He said that if a ceasefire could not be agreed simultaneously, then government troops should stop first, followed by the opposition.Mr Ban said Mr Annan - a former UN secretary general - would also meet Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Damascus and then hold talks with opposition leaders after leaving the country on Sunday.
The UN has called for "dialogue" to end the crisis, although opposition groups have already rejected the idea of talks with President Assad.

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Mr Ban also echoed Baroness Amos's calls for Syria to allow aid agencies access to areas badly hit by the violence.

He said that what she had seen in the devastated Baba Amr district of Homs showed there was a "quite serious, alarming situation in terms of humanitarian assistance and human rights.

On Friday, Baroness Amos said the government had indicated that an initial humanitarian assessment could be made within the next week, and that a UN team in Damascus was ready to get to work."They have agreed to a limited preliminary assessment to try to find out where people are and what they need, but I would like something much more comprehensive," she told the BBC.Baroness Amos also toured camps on the Turkish-Syrian border where about 11,000 Syrians have taken refuge.

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