Russia supports Annan’s mediation efforts on Syria

During his meeting with Annan, Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s support to Annan’s six-point peace plan that emphasises political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis in the conflict-torn Arab country.
“We support your efforts as an UN-AL special envoy aimed at restoring civil peace in Syria, from the very beginning.
“In Russia, you enjoy popularity and trust,” Putin told the former UN chief who is on his second trip to Moscow in four months.
For his part, Annan said he would like to visit Moscow once again in future, when “there will be no such a heavy burden on my shoulders,” referring to the mounting conflict and the complicated settlement process in Syria.
Pointing out Syrian crisis was at the crossroads and faced a turning point, Annan said he was glad to “discuss all these issues” with Russian officials.
During his late Monday talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Annan supported Russia’s proposal of extending the UN monitoring mission in Syria which would expire on July 21.
Moscow asked Annan to work with both external players and Syrian opposition groups for the settlement of the crisis.
Russia also offered to host a new round of talks among members of the Action Group on Syria in Moscow later this month, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov.
A loud explosion occurred at the entrance of Damascus’ Midan neighbourhood yesterday afternoon, the second blast within hours to hit the area that has been witnessing severe clashes between government troops and armed rebels.
An eyewitness told Xinhua that the blast sent plumes of smoke and dust. No further details were available.
Tanzania is planning to send a contingent of 200 soldiers to Syria for the United Nations peacekeeping mission, the country’s defence minister has revealed, local media reported yesterday.
According to the Citizen daily yesterday, the Minister of Defence and National Service, Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, revealed while presenting his ministry’s 2012/2013 budget in the Parliament in Dodoma, the country’s capital, one day earlier, that Tanzania is ready for the deployment under the request of UN.
He said that due to Tanzanian army’s good record in various peacekeeping missions across the world, the UN Security Council has requested the East African country to send between 100 to 200 peacekeepers to Syria.
“We are ready to do that,” said Nahodha, adding that the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) was already making preparations and the troops could leave for Syria the earliest.
Currently, a total of 1 081 Tanzanian army men and women are serving in UN peacekeeping operations in four countries, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Lebanon and Darfur of Sudan.
“We deployed these peacekeepers because we are aware of our responsibility as a country, which entails co-operating with others in making sure peace is maintained everywhere in the world,” he said. — Xinhua.