The United Nations special envoy, Kofi Annan, spoke with President Bashar al-Assad at the presidential palace in Damascus on Tuesday.

 

The meeting came as more than 100 Syrians were killed on Friday in the villages that constitute Houla, near Homs. Victims included 49 children and 34 women, according to a United Nations count. 

 

The massacre has won international condemnation.

 

The Syrian government has said terrorists were responsible for the massacre. 

 

Annan urged the Syrian government to hold to its commitment in March to abide by the terms of the peace plan, which included not only a cease-fire, but also political dialogue with the opposition.

 

Annan, the envoy of both the United Nations and the Arab League and a former United Nations secretary general, arrived with a new mandate from the Security Council to carry out his peace plan.