The international envoy to Syria Kofi Annan said he had held a "frank" and "constructive" meeting Monday in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, two days after admitting the failure of his mission. "I held frank and constructive discussions with President Assad," Annan told the press at a hotel in Damascus. . "We agreed on an approach that I will share with the Syrian opposition", he told reporters.
Moments earlier, the spokesman of the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Jihad Makdessi, had described on Twitter the meeting between the two men as "constructive".
"The implementation of the six-point (peace) plan was the focus of the discussions as well as how to move forward," said Mr. Makdessi in reference to the plan to end the crisis.
Mr. Annan met later the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, according to the spokesman. "Over the past two meetings, Mr. Annan was assured of the commitment of Syria to the application of the six-point plan and we hope that the other party (the opposition) is just as committed as us," Makdessi tweeted.
Kofi Annan is set to travel to Tehran. He has consistently argued against the Western isolation of Iran and called the latter to be involved in international discussions on Syria, saying Tehran could affect the regime in Damascus.
The Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir Abdollahian said yesterday that Iran had "provided suggestions to Kofi Annan," and that "could be part of the solution to the Syrian crisis".
