Kofi Annan 'Optimistic' After Meeting Syria's Assad

But no peace deal yet
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 11, 2012 9:21 AM CDT
Kofi Annan 'Optimistic' After Meeting Syria's Assad
UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Kofi Annan readies to talk to reporters in Damascus on March 11, 2012.   (Getty Images)

Kofi Annan left a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today without a deal to stop the bloodshed, but "optimistic for several reasons," the UN-Arab League envoy tells al-Jazeera. "It's going to be tough. It's going to be difficult but we have to have hope," he said, adding that he'd left Assad with "concrete proposals" and strongly encouraged him to "heed the African proverb which says you cannot turn the wind, so turn the sail." The Syrian leader needs to "start by stopping the killings and the misery and the abuses that are going on today," Annan said. A Syrian watchdog group says three soldiers and a civilian were killed in Idlib fighting this morning. (More Bashar al-Assad stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X