Finally, Syrian President President Bashar Al-Assad agreed to a new approach to end Syrian violence during a meeting with the Joint Special Envoy for the United Nations and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan.
Reports say President Assad and Mr. Annan have a very candid constructive discussion as they agreed on an approach to put a halt of the violence in the Middle Eastern country.
Mr. Annan reports that both have discussed the need to end the violence and ways and means of doing so.
“We agreed on an approach which I will share with the armed opposition. I also stressed the importance of moving ahead with a political dialogue which the President accepts.” -Mr. Annan
Mr. Annan had arrived in the Syrian capital on Sunday evening.
Mr. Annan stresses he is leaving Syria, but they will continue thei dialogue and.
“As I said, the approach we have discussed about ending the violence will also be shared with the armed opposition.” -Mr. Annan
Mr. Annan also encourages governments and other entities with influence to have a similar effort.
In May this year, the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States Kofi Annan finally arrived in Damascus for talks with senior leaders, particularly President Bashar al-Assad and range of other actors.
On his visit to Damascus, Mr. Annan said he came to Syria at a critical moment in the crisis.
The visit by Kofi Annan to Damascus reportedly comes on the heels of the killings of over 100 civilians, including over 30 children under the age of 10, in the village of Houla two days ago.
Mr. Annan said in a statement issued to the press on his arrival, adding that he is “shocked and horrified” by the tragic incident in Houla.
The killings have also been strongly condemned by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the head of UNSMIS, General Robert Mood, and a host of UN officials.
Mr. Annan urges the Government to take bold steps to signal that it is serious in its intention to resolve this crisis peacefully, and for everyone involved to help create the right context for a credible political process.
Mr. Annan noted he intends to have “serious and frank” discussions with Mr. al-Assad.
The envoy also stressed the need to implement the six-point plan that he put forward a few months ago.
The massacre in Syria’s Houla village in the early hours of 26th of May has reportedly killed 108 civilians, including over 30 children.
Reports say artillery and tank shells were fired in the Syrian village killing hundreds of civilians.
The violence took place in and around the town of Houla, near Homs, after an anti-government protest.
The Security Council voiced condemnation of the recent massacre of men, women and children inHoula.
In addition, the United States of America also expressed condemnation in the massacre in the Syrian village of Haoula.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United Nations observers have confirmed that dozens of men, women, and children were killed and hundreds more wounded in a vicious assault that involved a regime artillery and tank barrage on a residential neighborhood.
Mr. Annan recently presented the six-point plan as providing a blueprint for ending the violence and resolving the crisis sparked by a year-long uprising against Bashar al-Assad.
On 27th of March 27, Mr. Annan reported that the Syrian government had accepted the six point-plan and pledged to implement it.
According to report, below is the the six-point plan which asks the Syrian authorities to:
(1) commit to work with the Envoy in an inclusive Syrian-led political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people
(2) commit to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United Nations supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians
(3) ensure timely provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and to this end, as immediate steps, to accept and implement a daily two hour humanitarian pause
(4) intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons, including especially vulnerable categories of persons, and persons involved in peaceful political activities, provide without delay through appropriate channels a list of all places in which such persons are being detained
(5) ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists and a non-discriminatory visa policy for them;
(6) respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully as legally guaranteed.
The violence in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those witnessed across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 10,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.