Kofi Annan warns Syria talks in Geneva against failure

UN envoy Kofi Annan has warned that a failure to agree at talks in Geneva today on his peace plan for Syria could spark an international crisis.

Mr Annan told the meeting history would judge harshly if there was no deal on ending the bloodshed in Syria. Russia, which sees Syria as a close ally, is said to be resisting proposals that could exclude President Assad from a transitional unity government. Some 15,800 people have died in the 16-month uprising, activists say. Before the talks started, Russia said there was a “very good chance” of finding common ground, but a US official said areas of “difficulty and difference” remained. Violence has continued in Syria, despite a nominal ceasefire brokered by Mr Annan as part of his six-point peace plan. More than 180 people were killed on Friday, activists said, after Syrian forces shelled a suburb of the capital Damascus and the restive central city of Homs. On Saturday, activists and witnesses said many residents were fleeing the Damascus suburb of Douma, which has come under sustained assault from government forces. An activist told the AP news agency that loyalists had succeeded in recapturing the rebel stronghold late on Friday. “The situation in Douma is catastrophic,” he said. One Syrian activist group said about 4,700 of the 15,800 killed since the uprising began had died since mid-April, when the ceasefire was supposed to enter into force.