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            Annan Meets Syria's Assad to Urge Compliance with Truce

   by VOA News

   International peace envoy Kofi Annan has begun talks with Syrian
   President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to urge compliance with a
   cease-fire that he mediated between government and rebel forces last
   month.
   A U.N. spokeswoman in the Syrian capital says that Annan would raise
   two main issues in Tuesday's meeting: his six-point peace plan for
   Syria and the killings of at least 108 civilians in the rebellious town
   of Houla last Friday.
   After arriving in Damascus on Monday, the former U.N. secretary-general
   said he was "shocked and horrified" by the Houla massacre, calling it
   "an appalling crime." The U.N. Security Council issued a statement a
   day earlier blaming dozens of the deaths directly on "government
   artillery and tank shellings." But, the statement did not say who was
   responsible for shootings and stabbings of the other victims.
   The Syrian government denies any role in the Houla killings and blames
   all of them on "armed terrorists" whom it accuses of driving a 15-month
   revolt against Assad.
   U.N. spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said U.N. observers have remained in
   Houla since Saturday and have been talking to residents to establish
   the facts of the incident. She said most of the victims of the massacre
   have been buried.
   Ghosheh also said U.N. monitors have not been able to get into a
   district of Hama city where activists said government forces bombarded
   residential areas from Sunday into Monday in retaliation for rebel
   attacks. She said security problems were preventing observers stationed
   in Hama from entering the Arbeen district to check on activist reports
   that more than 34 civilians were killed in the fighting.
   Speaking on Monday, Annan appealed to "everyone with a gun" in Syria to
   resolve the country's conflict peacefully. Government and rebel forces
   have continued fighting each other despite accepting a truce that he
   brokered in April.
   Australia expelled two Syrian diplomats from Canberra on Tuesday in
   protest at the Syrian government's perceived role in the Houla
   massacre. Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said he expects other
   countries will do the same in the coming days.
   A Vatican statement issued Monday said Pope Benedict was "pained" by
   the Houla killings and called on the international community to "spare
   no effort" to end the Syrian crisis through "dialogue and
   reconciliation."
   The office of British Prime Minister David Cameron said he and French
   President Francois Hollande have agreed to increase international
   pressure on the Assad government to end what they consider to be the
   "bloody suppression of the Syrian people." Cameron and Hollande
   discussed the crisis in a Monday phone call.
   The two leaders also reiterated their support for Annan's peace mission
   in Syria and agreed to work with Syrian ally Russia to find a
   resolution to the conflict.
   Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that evidence
   indicates Syrian government and rebel forces both are to blame for the
   Houla massacre. Russia previously has shielded Assad from U.N.
   sanctions sought by Western and Arab nations opposed to his 11-year
   rule, but Moscow recently has toughened its criticism of the Syrian
   leader's handling of the uprising.
   In Washington, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General
   Martin Dempsey, warned that "atrocities" such as the Houla killings
   could trigger international military intervention. But, he also
   stressed that the international community should exert greater
   diplomatic pressure on Assad before exploring military options.
   The United Nations says more than 10,000 people have been killed in
   Syria since the government began its crackdown on dissent in March
   2011.
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   liance-with-truce/1120617.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/annan-meets-syrias-assad-to-urge-compliance-with-truce/1120617.html