UN's Ban pushes Annan Syria plan

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Arab leaders in Baghdad on Thursday to discuss a UN-backed peace plan for Syria as President Bashar al-Assad's forces continued their offensive against rebels across Syria.

Regional leaders in Iraq for the Arab League summit have endorsed special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point plan that calls for a cease-fire and peace talks, but they remain sharply split over how to deal with the violence that risks deepening sectarian divisions.

Syria has accepted Annan's proposal, but rejects any initiatives taken by the summit and said it would deal only with individual Arab states.

"This is an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence and the bloodshed," Ban said of Syria's accepting Annan's plan, before arriving in Baghdad on Thursday.

"I strongly urge President Assad of Syria to put those commitments into immediate effect."

Arab states, while rejecting any foreign intervention in Syria, appear to have backed away from their initial proposal that Assad step aside to allow his deputy to organize talks.

Sunni powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar have led the push to isolate Syria, including suggestions for arming Syria's opposition, but non-Gulf Arab states such as Algeria and Shiite-led Iraq urge more caution, fearing that toppling Assad could spark sectarian violence.

Annan's proposal calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, humanitarian assistance, the release of prisoners and free movement and access for journalists. But it does not explicitly call for Assad to step down from office.

Diplomats say one of Annan's ideas is for a UN observer mission to monitor any eventual cease-fire, a mechanism likely to require a UN Security Council mandate.

Even as Arab foreign ministers held talks in Baghdad on Wednesday before Thursday's summit, Syrian forces bombarded cities and towns in southern and northern Syria, forcing thousands to flee violence.

Gunmen struck on Thursday in the heart of Syria's largest city and a stronghold of support for Assad, killing two army colonels at a downtown roundabout in an attack that state media blamed on terrorists.