Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will discuss an international peace plan for the Middle East country with UN envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday, ITAR-TASS reports.
Annan met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Damascus on Monday. The minister expressed interest of Syrian authorities to make Annan’s mission successful.
Kofi Annan said that Damascus needs to demonstrate a serious approach to resolve the problem peacefully. He urged people responsible for the massacre at Houla near Homs to be punished.
Moscow and Beijing urged for a scrupulous investigation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the forces used artillery and tanks after negotiations with his British counterpart William Hague.
Syria has a cease-fire agreement in force since April 12, according to resolution 2042 of the UN Security Council. Spokesman of the Syrian Foreign Ministry Jihad Maqdesi said that opposition has violated the agreement numerously.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent letters to the Security Council, UN general Assembly and organizations for human rights condemning the massacre on May 25. The Syrian government blames Al Qaeda for the tragedy, SANA reports.
General Martin Dempsey of the Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the US and the international society need to use diplomatic and economic means to settle the problem, RBC reports.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21, 2012, that the alliance has no plans for military intervention in Syria.
