Syria: Brahimi, Assad talk as scores killed
2012-12-24 14:07
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Syria
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Damascus - Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Monday held talks
with Syria's president on the "worrying" situation in the country, as
Damascus fended off accusations its forces bombed a bakery killing dozens of
civilians.
The talks in the capital came as Russia played down fears
President Bashar Assad's regime would use chemical weapons against the armed
opposition, saying to do so would amount to "political suicide".
"I had the honour to meet the president and as usual we
exchanged views on the many steps to be taken in the future," Brahimi told
reporters at his hotel, a day after he arrived to launch a fresh bid to end the
conflict roiling the country.
The UN-Arab League envoy said the Syrian crisis was
"always worrying", with more than 44 000 people killed since the
uprising against Assad's regime erupted in March last year, according to the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Brahimi expressed hope that "all parties are in favour
of a solution that draws Syrian people together."
"Assad expressed his views on the situation and I told
him about my meetings with leaders in the region and outside," said the
veteran Algerian diplomat who took over his present task from former UN chief
Kofi Annan.
Brahimi last visited the country on 19 October for talks
with Assad and other officials in a bid to clinch a temporary ceasefire for the
Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. Despite pledges, the truce did not hold.
His arrival in the country on Sunday coincided with reports
by activists that at least 60 people were killed in a regime air strike on a
bakery in the town of Halfaya, in the central province of Hama.
The activists said the attack, in which many women and
children were killed, amounted to a "massacre".
