Annan arrives in Damascus for talks on Lebanon truce

The United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus on Thursday for talks to bolster a truce between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah guerillas.

Annan, accompanied by UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, was greeted at Damascus airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Mouallem.

The UN chief is scheduled to held talk with Mouallem Thursday evening and with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday, during which he is expected to press the Syrians to cooperate in the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 which halted the war in Lebanon.

Resolution 1701 calls for Israel's withdrawal and authorizes an increase of the existing UN force in Lebanon to 15,000 troops to help Lebanese troops take control of southern Lebanon as Israel withdraws.

The stance of Syria, a supporter of Hezbollah, was deemed critical to the success of this resolution.

Syria has always been accused by the United States and Israel of funneling arms to Hezbollah, an allegation it denied.

Syria also rejected an Israeli demand of deploying the UN peacekeeping forces along the Lebanese borders with it and threatened to close the borders if they were deployed.

Annan just wrapped up a visit in Jordan where he denounced Israel's use of cluster bombs in Lebanon and urged for a swift lift of Israeli blockade there.

Source: Xinhua