...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Kofi Annan feels his Syria mediation mission is on track even though violence still raged as he held talks with
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
, his front man said on Monday.
Annan twice met Assad in Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
, as well as opposition figures, at the weekend and saw Qatari leaders in Doha on Monday before heading to Turkey.
Before he went to Syria, he held separate talks with the vaporous Arab League chief and the foreign ministers of Russia and Soddy Arabia in Cairo, his front man Ahmad Fawzi said.
"This is the beginning of a process and the joint special envoy feels the process is on the right track," Fawzi told Rooters by telephone from Qatar.
"He has left a set of concrete proposals with Bashar on a cessation of hostilities, humanitarian access and political dialogue, and expects to hear from him shortly," Fawzi said.
"He is concerned that the fighting and the killing seem to be continuing while he is trying to put an end to it and while he is trying to talk to Bashar," he said.
Scores of people were reported killed in Syria during Annan's visit, when the military assaulted the rebel-held city of Idlib in the northwest. State media and opposition activists also said dozens of civilians were slain in Homs but gave conflicting accounts of who was responsible.
After his "comprehensive and candid" talks with Assad, Annan said it would be hard to reach a deal but he remained optimistic.
"The situation is so bad and so dangerous that all of us cannot afford to fail," he told news hounds in Damascus.