Odds long for Annan's mission to halt Syria guns

UNITED NATIONS: Former UN chief Kofi Annan will on Wednesday launch a diplomatic 'mission impossible' aiming to convince Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to silence the guns blamed for thousands of deaths in the past year.

Annan will hold talks with Arab League leaders in Cairo in a last chance to send a signal of his intentions before he heads to Damascus on Saturday as joint special envoy for the United Nations and the 22-nation Arab bloc.

Few hold out any chance that he will be able to halt the conflict, which will be one year old on March 15.

The International Crisis Group think tank said it is offering "very long odds." The chances for diplomacy in Syria are "slim," added Richard Gowan of New York University's Center on International Cooperation.

Annan himself called it "a tough challenge" last week when he was named.

But the Nobel Peace Prize winner is seen as one of the few international figures with the diplomatic muscle to pull off such a coup.

"Syria looks desperate. But the outside world is now desperate. Even if there is only a five percent chance, we have to try," said one Western envoy at the UN.

Annan had regular contacts with Assad when he was secretary general though he admitted they have not spoken for some time. His criticism of NATO's action in Libya last year could also give him credibility with Syria and its dwindling band of supporters. (AFP)