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Syria Envoy Kofi Annan Says Situation In Syria 'Bleak'

International envoy to Syria Kofi Annan told the U.N. Security Council that the situation in the country is "bleak." That's according to the AP, which obtained a copy of the closed briefing.

"He echoed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in calling the current situation 'unacceptable' and called on the Syrian government to immediately implement his six-point peace-plan," the AP added.

Quoting Annan's spokesman, Reuters reports that Annan also said that Syria had not made the full military withdrawal it agreed to in the peace plan.

"They [Syrian authorities] are claiming that this has happened," Ahmad Fawzi, the envoy's spokesman said before Annan spoke to the U.N. "Satellite imagery, however, and credible reports show that this has not fully happened, so this is unacceptable, and Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan will be saying this to the Security Council today when he addresses them in closed session."

The BBC adds:

"Mr Annan said the overall situation was 'entirely contrary to the will of the international community'."

"He said that reported government firing on protesters in Hama, if confirmed, was 'reprehensible and unacceptable'.

"He also called for the rapid deployment of the observer mission."

CNN reports that Local Coordination Committees said that 35 people had died today in the violence.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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