UN Envoy Annan in Syria for Talks With Assad The spokesman for U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan says he has arrived in Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The visit comes a day after Annan acknowledged in an interview that the international community's efforts to find a political solution to the escalating violence in Syria have failed. This citizen journalism image released by Shaam News Network taken Friday, July 6, 2012 purports to show a child in a military uniform and flashing the victory sign at an anti-Assad protest in Kafr Nabil, in Northwestern Syria. Annan is the architect of the most prominent international plan to end the 16-month crisis in Syria which activists say has left well over 14,000 people dead. Annan's six-point plan was to begin with a cease-fire in mid-April between government forces and rebels seeking to topple Assad but the truce never took hold. A statement issued Sunday by spokesman Ahmad Fawzi did not give details of Annan's schedule in Damascus.