Annan Leaves Syria Without Breakthrough

A U.N. official says international envoy Kofi Annan has left Syria without securing any major steps from the Syrian government to implement his faltering peace plan for the country.

Mr. Annan flew out of Damascus on Wednesday, arriving in Amman where he met with top Jordanian officials.

While in Syria, the U.N.-Arab League envoy made a personal appeal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for “bold steps” to create momentum for peace “now, not tomorrow.”

Speaking by phone from Damascus, U.N. spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said Wednesday she was not aware of any action by the Syrian government.

Mr. Annan’s plan called on the Syrian government to withdraw heavy weapons from civilian areas and abide by a truce with rebels. But attacks by both sides have continued.

Syrian activists said fighting between government and rebel forces on Wednesday killed at least nine people, five of them in the Damascus suburb of Douma. They said government troops shelled Douma and the central city of Homs, also an opposition stronghold. The casualties could not be independently confirmed.