Kofi Annan

Assad at the Tipping Point

Jeffrey Laurenti | Posted 05.29.2012

Jeffrey Laurenti

Two weeks ago the crackdown on peaceful protests at the university in Aleppo triggered a hemorrhage of support for the government. The international reaction to the Houla massacre seems set to accelerate that erosion.

If There Is No Plan B for Syria, How About a Plan C?

Amb. Marc Ginsberg | Posted 05.29.2012

Amb. Marc Ginsberg

Administration officials keep gravitating to the simplistic assertion that when it comes to Syria, there is no Plan B since Plan B may compel direct military intervention. But I can drive a ten-wheeler between existing U.S. policy and putting boots on Syrian ground.

Annan Condemns Syria Massacre

Reuters | Posted 05.29.2012

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN, May 28 (Reuters) - Peace envoy Kofi Annan condemned the killing of at least 108 people in the Syrian to...

Syria Denies Allegations That Its Forces Killed More Than 100 People

AP | BEN HUBBARD and EDITH M. LEDERER | Posted 05.28.2012

BEIRUT — Syria on Sunday strongly denied allegations that its forces killed scores of people – including women and children – in one...

Annan's Plan Threatened With Failure as Everyone Evades "Plan B"

Raghida Dergham | Posted 05.11.2012

Raghida Dergham

What Kofi Annan and his team should think of is the need to distinguish between the failure of the plan and the failure of the man on the one hand, and the thwarting of the six points stated in the man's plan on the other. This mandate is first and foremost meant for Syria and its fate.

Annan: Peace Plan 'Only Remaining Chance'

AP | JOHN HEILPRIN | Posted 05.08.2012

GENEVA — World powers share a "profound concern" that Syria could descend into civil war, international envoy Kofi Annan said Tuesday, but natio...

Syria's Unfolding Tragedy: What Can Be Done?

Alon Ben-Meir | Posted 05.08.2012

Alon Ben-Meir

There is no easy solution to the Syrian debacle and the Annan plan has now become an obstacle rather than a plan that provides a solution to the conflict.

Obama Wants to Postpone the Syrian Revolution Until After the Elections

Raghida Dergham | Posted 05.16.2012

Raghida Dergham

The world will not necessarily stop, as postponement and delay could cause a backlash against the Arab region and the United States in the form of a major concern and a monster that can only be restrained at a very high cost.

An Open Letter to Asma al-Assad

Cecilia Attias | Posted 05.02.2012

Cecilia Attias

Why are we not talking about Syria? How can we forget those who are suffering in this way? Have we learned to accept the unacceptable?

Dozens Of Children Slaughtered Since Syrian Ceasefire

Reuters/The Huffington Post | Posted 05.02.2012

UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Reuters) - More than 34 children have allegedly been killed in Syria since a shaky truce between President Bashar al-Assad's ...

Is it Possible to Salvage the Faltering Syrian "Ceasefire"

Amb. Marc Ginsberg | Posted 04.25.2012

Amb. Marc Ginsberg

An absence of imaginative, strategic diplomacy as the year-long crisis in Syria unfolded has caught the U.S. with dwindling options as the oxymoronic UN ceasefire collapses. Consequences abound as a result for U.S. interests across the region.

Annan: Situation Continues To Be Unacceptable

Reuters | Posted 04.26.2012

By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT, April 25 (Reuters) - Syrian security forces shot dead four civilians on a bus in the northern province of Idl...

Don't Despair on Annan's Syria Plan -- Yet

Jeffrey Laurenti | Posted 04.29.2012

Jeffrey Laurenti

While it is important for both Washington and its anti-Assad allies to ready a contingency "Plan B" in case the peace effort does fail -- just having one in reserve can deter the Damascus authorities from aborting the peace initiative -- the "Friends" should not be in unseemly haste to bury it alive.

'The Annan Plan Is The Last Chance'

AP | BEN HUBBARD | Posted 04.19.2012

BEIRUT — Syrian security forces opened fire Wednesday on anti-regime demonstrators surrounding the cars of a U.N. team meant to monitor a shaky ...

Violence Flares In Syria As U.N. Monitors Begin Truce Mission

AP | ZEINA KARAM | Posted 04.17.2012

BEIRUT — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday the Syrian government is responsible for guaranteeing U.N. observers full freedom of mov...

Fear of Annan's Plan Turning Into a Process of Buying Time

Raghida Dergham | Posted 04.13.2012

Raghida Dergham

Kofi Annan will not be able to continue merely managing relations between major powers while the Syrian leadership targets people militarily. He has no choice but to admit that granting deadline after deadline will be translated into prolonging the conflict.

Advance U.N. Observers Ready To Leave For Syria

AP | EDITH M. LEDERER and PETER JAMES SPIELMANN | Posted 04.14.2012

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote Saturday on a resolution authorizing the deployment of the first wave of U.N. milita...

The Syrian Quagmire

Yavuz Baydar | Posted 04.12.2012

Yavuz Baydar

Well, nobody had truly believed that the Annan Plan would work, had it not? It was pretty clear from the very beginning that it would be welcomed by...

Syrian Regime Observes Ceasefire, Troops Remain In Place

AP | ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and ZEINA KARAM | Posted 04.13.2012

BEIRUT — Syria's opposition called for widespread protests Friday to test the regime's commitment to an internationally brokered cease-fire that...

Annan Issues Cease-Fire for Syria

Gideon Resnick | Posted 04.11.2012

Gideon Resnick

With no willingness on the part of other countries to intervene militarily, the cease-fire planned for Thursday may be the only thing that could prevent Syria from breaking into a complete civil war.

Kofi Annan Seeks Iran's Help In Solving Crisis In Syria

AP | ALI AKBAR DAREINI and BASSEM MROUE | Posted 04.12.2012

TEHRAN -- Special envoy Kofi Annan said Wednesday in Tehran that Iran could help solve the crisis in Syria, where activists reported fresh violence a ...

Annan: Syria Has Not Pulled Troops

AP | ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and ZEINA KARAM | Posted 04.11.2012

BEIRUT — Syrian troops defied a U.N.-brokered cease-fire plan on Tuesday, launching fresh attacks on rebellious areas, but special envoy Kofi An...

Ceasefire in Syria? You Must Be Kidding

Dr. Josef Olmert | Posted 04.10.2012

Dr. Josef Olmert

It is time to change the discussion about Syria. Blood is thicker than water, as they say in the Middle East, and too much has already been spilled. It should stop and quickly, but that will not happen through the Annan plan.

Syria Claims To Be Pulling Back Troops, But Activists Report New Attacks

AP | Associated Press | Posted 04.11.2012

BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian troops shelled and raided opposition strongholds nationwide on Tuesday, activists said, prompting an urgent appeal by internation...

Annan Plan Up Against the Syrian Wall

Jeffrey Laurenti | Posted 04.09.2012

Jeffrey Laurenti

As fighting intensifies in Syria on the eve of the declared deadline for troop withdrawals and a ceasefire, it is international mediator Kofi Annan's proposed peace process that many see at risk of burial.