By IANS,
United Nations : Former UN chief Kofi Annan will call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s capital city Damascus Saturday. He will also meet with opposition leaders outside the country, said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Annan has been appointed by the UN and the Arab League (AL) as their joint special envoy to deal with the Syrian crisis, Xinhua reported.
“He’s going to meet tomorrow morning with President Assad in Damascus, and he will be meeting some civil society leaders and whoever he may think necessary,” said Ban Ki-moon Friday, adding that Annan would not only meet government and civil society leaders but also members of the humanitarian community.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Annan and Assad since the former was appointed a special envoy Feb 23.
Ban made the statement after he had what he called “a trilateral teleconference” with Annan and AL Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby.