Syria Mediator Kofi Annan

Talks between Russia and the United States may produce a chance of peace in Syria, Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general who tried unsuccessfully to forge a deal to end the war in 2012, said on Tuesday.

The United Nations on Friday confirmed that veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will replace former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria as the 17-month-old conflict slides deeper into civil war.

Escalating violence in Syria forced United Nations observers to suspend operations on Saturday, in the clearest sign yet that a peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan has collapsed.

Peace envoy Kofi Annan said today he was shocked by mounting violence in Syria ahead of a United Nations (UN) deadline for regime forces to cease fire, as Damascus said its troops will not withdraw from protest hubs without written guarantees.

Western and Arab nations called on Sunday for Syria's Bashar al-Assad to be given a deadline to meet the terms of a peace plan as fresh clashes in a year-long uprising claimed another 40 lives.

Talks between Russia and the United States may produce a chance of peace in Syria, Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general who tried unsuccessfully to forge a deal to end the war in 2012, said on Tuesday.

The United Nations on Friday confirmed that veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will replace former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria as the 17-month-old conflict slides deeper into civil war.

Escalating violence in Syria forced United Nations observers to suspend operations on Saturday, in the clearest sign yet that a peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan has collapsed.

Peace envoy Kofi Annan said today he was shocked by mounting violence in Syria ahead of a United Nations (UN) deadline for regime forces to cease fire, as Damascus said its troops will not withdraw from protest hubs without written guarantees.

Western and Arab nations called on Sunday for Syria's Bashar al-Assad to be given a deadline to meet the terms of a peace plan as fresh clashes in a year-long uprising claimed another 40 lives.