Syria crisis: Kofi Annan calls for dialogue spark anger

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AHoms

Syrian opposition activists have angrily rejected calls by Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, for dialogue with the government.

The leader of the main opposition, Burhan Ghalioun, said the comments were "disappointing" when Syrians were being "massacred every day".
Mr Annan, who is due in Syria on Saturday, had said a solution lies in a "political settlement".
He also said further militarisation "would make things worse".
Meanwhile, activists say Syrian troops are massing in northern Idlib province and fear another major assault, as happened in the city of Homs.
'Pointless'Mr Ghalioun, speaking to Associated Press, said: "These kind of comments are disappointing and do not give a lot of hope for people in Syria being massacred every day. It feels like we are watching the same movie being repeated over and over again.''
He added: "Any political solution will not succeed if it is not accompanied by military pressure on the regime."

Activists fear the Free Syrian Army in Idlib could be the next major target

Mr Ghalioun said he hoped Mr Annan would have "a mechanism for ending the violence", but added: "My fear is that, like other international envoys before him, the aim is to waste a month or two of pointless mediation efforts."
Activists inside Syria were also dismissive of the envoy's comments.
Hadi Abdullah, inside Homs, told Reuters: "We reject any dialogue while tanks shell our towns, snipers shoot our women and children and many areas are cut off from the world by the regime without electricity, communications or water."
Mr Annan is scheduled to meet President Bashar al-Assad at the weekend.
In Cairo on Thursday, Mr Annan said: "I hope that no-one is thinking very seriously of using force in this situation. I believe any further militarisation would make the situation worse.
"Ultimately the solution lies in a political settlement."
DefectionsIn other diplomatic moves on Friday, Russia said it could not back a new UN draft resolution on Syria as it was "unbalanced".

Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax: "Its main problem is the absence of a simultaneous call on all sides to take practical steps in the context of ceasing fire."
The draft resolution demands the Syrian government "immediately" ends violence while calling on opposition groups to "refrain from all violence".
Russia and China have jointly vetoed two previous UN Security Council drafts.
Beijing has stepped up its diplomatic efforts, saying it is sending an envoy, Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Ming, to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France to explain its position on Syria.
In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the defection to the opposition on Thursday of Syria's deputy oil minister, Abdo Hussameddin, was the "start of the disintegration of the Assad regime".
Meanwhile, activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops backed by tanks were massing in Idlib, near the Turkish border, to target the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Valerie Amos has been assessing the humanitarian situation in parts of Syria

Some activists fear Idlib could suffer the same fate as the Baba Amr district of Homs, which was taken by government troops after a massive bombardment campaign.
UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, who earlier visited Homs, on Friday toured camps on the Turkish-Syrian border to see the situation for around 11,000 Syrian refugees.
Separately, a number of high-ranking Syrian army officers have defected and fled to Turkey, Turkish media and activists said.
One Turkish media report said two generals and a colonel had crossed the border, while another said it was four brigadier-generals.
The UN says more than 7,500 people have died as a result of the violence in Syria over the past 12 months.
The Local Coordination Committees group said another 16 people were killed across Syria on Friday, including nine in Homs, three in Hama, two in Idlib and one each in Damascus and Aleppo