Syria gives positive response to Annan, Italy recalls diplomatic staff from Syria

Syria said on Wednesday it had given a positive response to international envoy Kofi Annan's proposals for ending violence after a year of protests against President Bashar al-Assad.    

"The tone of our reply was positive," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi told reporters in Damascus, adding that Syria had offered "clarifications" on implementing some of the proposals. 

Italy has recalled all staff from its embassy in Damascus and suspended diplomatic activity in Syria, the foreign ministry said. A statement said the move was taken for security reasons and to stress Rome's "strongest possible condemnation of the unacceptable violence of the Syrian regime against its own citizens". 

Kofi Annan, joint envoy of the United Nations and Arab League for Syria, has received a response from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to his proposals, but questions remain and he is seeking clarification, a spokesman said on Wednesday.    

"The Joint Special Envoy (JSE) for Syria, Kofi Annan, has now received a response from the Syrian authorities. The JSE has questions and is seeking answers," spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in a brief statement issued by Annan's office in Geneva.    

"But given the grave and tragic situation on the ground, everyone must realize that time is of the essence. As he said in the region, this crisis cannot be allowed to drag on," he added.

AFP earlier reported that Syrian government troops seized full control of the city of Idlib. AFP also reported that three Syrian National Council’s senior members resigned on Wednesday, according to statements published on their Facebook pages.  

A SNC official confirmed to AFP that the three members, Haytham Maleh, Kamal al-Labwani and Catherine al-Tely, resigned over “disputes with the council”, refraining from providing further details.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that heavily armed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad battled rebels in the southern city of Deraa on Wednesday, while U.N. envoy Kofi Annan considered Syria's response to plans aimed at ending the violence.    

Around 20 tanks and armored vehicles surrounded the al-Balad district of Deraa, on the border with Jordan, and fired anti-aircraft guns into buildings, activist Rami Abdelhaq said from Deraa, where the revolt against Assad began a year ago.    I

n an apparent bid to deter the exodus, Syrian forces have laid landmines near its borders with Lebanon and Turkey along routes used by refugees to escape the mayhem, advocacy group Human Rights Watch said.    

On a separate note, Russia's foreign minister said Moscow is providing Syria with weapons to fend off external threats but has no intention to use military force to protect Syrian President Bashar Assad.  

Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that Russia isn't supplying any arms that could be used against protesters.   He told lawmakers that a military intervention in Syria would contradict Russia's national interests.     

Lavrov said that Moscow has been urging the Syrian government to take "steps that would calm the situation," adding that others should use their ties to the opposition to end violence.  

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Wednesday that Beijing was taking no sides in the crisis, and that he was "deeply pained" by the suffering of the Syrian people, though his remarks did not suggest China's diplomatic position will change.

Reuters/LBCI