NEWS FLASH

Annan: ‘It Has Become Clear’ That Assad Hasn’t Pulled Back Troops | Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria told the U.N. Security Council today that he still has hopes for a cessation of violence in Syria by the April 12 deadline but that he was “gravely concerned at the course of events.” In a letter to the Security Council, Annan said that “in the last 5 days it has become clear” that President Bashar al-Assad has made no effort to abide by Annan’s peace plan he agreed to earlier this month. However, Annan insisted his peace initiative remains “very much alive,” in part because there is no viable alternative. “If you want to take (the plan) off the table, what will you replace it with?” he asked reporters in Turkey. Meanwhile, according to the AP, residents in the ravaged city of Homs “reported some of the heaviest shelling in months.”