UN envoy Kofi Annan in Syria to hold talks with Assad

The UN and Arab League's envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, is due to meet President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus for talks on his six-point peace plan.

The meeting comes after Annan acknowledged that the plan has so far failed to end the violence. Assad has accused the US of trying to destabilise Syria by giving "gangs" in his country political protection.

In an interview published on Saturday, Kofi Annan told the French paper Le Monde that the plan for Syria had so far "failed" to end the bloodshed. A day earlier, he recommended in a report to the UN Security Council that the UN mission that is meant to be monitoring the truce in Syria should instead focus on political mediation.

On the other hand, Assad has insisted that US political support for "terrorists" was hindering the peace envoy's plan to end 16 months of bloodshed.

"We know that (Annan) is coming up against countless obstacles but his plan should not be allowed to fail, it is a very good plan," Assad told German television channel Das Erste.

"The biggest obstacle is that many countries do not even want this plan to succeed so they offer political support and continue to provide the terrorists in Syria with arms and money."

While Assad has faced sanctions and international condemnation over his crackdown on dissent, major Western and Arab powers have shied away from direct military action.