Annan holds talks with Syria's Assad in Damascus

[July 09, 2012]  BEIRUT (AP) -- International envoy Kofi Annan says he has agreed with President Bashar Assad on an approach to end the violence in Syria.

Annan did not disclose details, but says he will also discuss it with the country's armed opposition.

Annan spoke to reporters in the Syrian capital Monday following a two-hour meeting with Assad in a last-ditch attempt to salvage a peace effort.

Annan is the architect of an international plan to end Syria's 16-month old crisis which started with largely peaceful protests calling for reforms but has transformed into a bloody insurgency to topple Assad.

The former U.N. secretary-general acknowledged in a recent interview that the international community's efforts to find a political solution to the escalating violence in Syria have failed.

[Associated Press]

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