Syria: Annan To Visit As Violence Continues
Kofi Annan will visit “soon” in Syria, said his spokesman Friday, in what would be the first action of the international envoy to Syria since presenting his plan to the government of Bashar al-Assad in early March. Ahmad Fawzi declined to detail the program of the visit or specify the date, citing security reasons.
He had already indicated that the former UN secretary general would visit the country when the time was propitious. The introduction of a fragile cease-fire six weeks ago has not helped to end the violence in the country.
At least six civilians, including five in Hama, were killed Friday by security forces in Syria where anti-regime demonstrations were held in the two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo (north), reported the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR). In the province of Hama, three teenagers aged 14, 16 and 17 years and a 48 year old man, were killed by army troops on late Thursday night, while guarding their farm in a tent located in the village of Sheezar. A fifth was killed in the district of Hama.
According to media reports, several demonstrations took place at dawn in the neighborhoods of Damascus (Tadamone, Fahame, Tabbale, al-Assali, Jobar) paying tribute to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and calling for the downfall of the Assad regime.
