Annan brings U.N. plan to Syria

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Special United Nations envoy Kofi Annan flew to the Syrian capital Sunday to demand an end to the violence and to present an internationally backed plan for a transitional government to replace the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Annan’s spokesman said.

His mission to Damascus provides the first major test of a week-old plan, backed by the United States, Russia and China, for a Syrian-led process to install a transitional government with full executive powers. Annan expects the visit to last one day.

The first demand Annan will make is that fighting stop in the 16-month uprising, Ahmad Fawzi, Annan’s spokesman, said Sunday. “We cannot proceed to any other steps until they agree to put their guns down,” he said. “It’s the single most important thing, but not the only thing.”

It wasn’t clear if Annan would press on this visit for the key step envisioned under the “Action Plan” that Annan drafted and won approval from all members of the U.N. Security Council and the Arab League in Geneva on June 30. This is to demand that Assad name an interlocutor to meet with a counterpart named by the anti-government forces to determine the participants in a transitional government.

The U.N. plan allows for members of the Assad regime to play a role in that transition, provided they are acceptable to the opposition battling the government, but the United States and its allies have stressed that Assad should be excluded from a future role.