Syrian troops launched an attack on the northwestern city of Idlib according to video posted to a social media website. While Reuters cannot independently verify this information, the report came as President Bashar al-Assad met with U.N./Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in Damascus.
The Syrian leader said his country was ready for "any honest effort" to end a year of unrest but blamed "terrorist groups" for blocking a solution, the state news agency reported.
Later in the day, Annan met with opposition member Hassan Abdulazim who urged the envoy to back an Arab League peace plan to resolve the Syrian crisis.
SOUNDBITE: Hussein Abdulazim, head of the Syrian Opposing Coordination body Saying:
"We asked Kofi Annan to coordinate with the Arab League and its efforts. We thanked him for U.N. efforts to find a solution for the crisis in Syria. Any negotiation for finding a transitional phase should be conducted after stopping violence, releasing prisoners and establishing the suitable environment,"
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have led efforts to isolate Assad, and pushed for other states to recognize the exiled Syrian National Council as Syria's legitimate representative. Arab and western states to this point held off on this with some diplomats expressing concern that the opposition hasn't presented a united front.
Deborah Gembara, Reuters.
