International peace envoy Kofi Annan visits Damascus. Two Tibetan protesters set themselves on fire. I’m David DeForest reporting from Washington.
International peace envoy Kofi Annan is in Syria, trying to salvage a peace plan that he admits is not being implemented comprehensively. After arriving in the Syrian capital, Damascus today, Annan urged everyone with a gun to lay them down and help resolve the conflict peacefully. He said he was shocked and horrified by the killings of at least (108) people in the rebellious town of Houla on Friday. Syrian officials said the former U.N. secretary-general would meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem later in the day and President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday.
China, meanwhile, denounced the killings of civilians in Syria. A spokesman called on all parties to support mediation efforts, as we hear from Shannon Van Sant.
The Chinese government condemned the attack on the Syrian town of Houla Friday and Saturday, but side-stepped blaming the Assad government for the incident, saying that the (perpetrators) of the massacre must be found. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said China is shocked by the massacre. On Sunday, the 15-member U.N. Security Council issued a statement (condemning) the Syrian government’s role in the attack on Houla, a Sunni community 24 kilometers northwest of Homs. The statement did not blame the Syrian government directly for all of the killings, but criticized Syria’s use of heavy weapons in civilian areas. Shannon Van Sant for VOA News, Beijing.
And if you like to see more on Syria, take a look at our website voanews.com.
NATO officials said two coalition members were killed in a (helicopter crash) in eastern Afghanistan today. The coalition said it is investigating the cause. Initial reports said there was no enemy activity in the area. Earlier, another coalition aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan. There were no fatalities in that incident. Also, an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan killed one NATO service member.
Egyptian election officials are expected today to announce results from the first round of presidential elections, confirming a polarizing runoff between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate and another with strong ties to former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime. The preliminary counts from Egypt’s first free (presidential race) last week show the Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi in the lead and former Prime Minister and secularist Ahmed Shafiq in a strong second place. The runoff will be held on June 16th through 17th.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a parliamentary (inquiry) today he made a political decision not to confront the media during his decade in office. Mr. Blair testified at the inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press that it was inevitable that top politicians and senior media executives would have a close interaction.
“In the relationship between senior media people and senior politicians, that relationship is (inevitably) going to involve a close interaction and I think that has always been the case and it’s going to go on being the case.”
Mr. Blair said it was important to stop the relationship from becoming unhealthy.
The brother of a Pakistani doctor jailed for helping the United States track down Osama bin Laden says he is innocent and should be granted a new (trial). A tribal court in northwest Pakistan last week sentenced Shakil Afridi to 33 years in prison for treason. Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign to help the CIA obtain DNA samples of the al-Qaeda leader and members of his family.
Two men set themselves on fire Sunday in the Tibetan city of Lhasa. Witnesses told VOA’s Tibetan Service that security forces with fire-fighting equipment arrived at the Jokhang temple, extinguished the fires and took the men away. China’s Xinhua news agency says one man died at the scene, the other is in serious condition.
Nepal anticipates a period of political (instability) and street protests, because the nation’s parliament has missed a Sunday deadline to write a new constitution. Nepal’s prime minister said the Constituent Assembly had failed to achieve its goal. He said he will stay in office until the new elections scheduled for November 22.
Asia Pacific stock markets closed higher today. I’m David DeForest, more news on the Internet at voanews.com.