(VOVworld) - UN-Arab League Joint Special Envoy for Syria Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus today to discuss a solution to the Syrian crisis with President Bashar Al-Assad. A spokesman said Annan will also meet representatives of the opposition and try to persuade them to resolve crisis peacefully. He will review the work of the UN Supervisory Mission in Syria led by Major-General Robert Mood.

Kofi Annan to hold frank talks with Bashar Al Assad

British Foreign Minister William Hague, who is visiting Russia, held talks today with Russian Foreign Minister Seigei Lavrov about the Syrian crisis. Hague said at a joint news conference that Russia should put pressure on the Syrian government to end the violence and comply with Annan’s peace plan. Hague said Annan's peace plan is the only hope for putting an end to the bloody crisis. He will urge the UN Security Council to discuss Syria’s issue in the next several days. Lavrov reiterated Russia’s viewpoint that the UN must quickly investigate the Houla massacre, and said both the Syrian government and the opposition are to blame for Syria’s violence.

UN observers in Syria said the death toll from Friday’s attack in Houla had climbed to 108 (including 32 children under 10 years old). The massacre has raised waves of indignation around the world. President al-Assad’s government insists it was “absolutely not involved” in this massacre, and has promised to carry out an investigation.