BEIRUT (Reuters) – Two explosions hit security complexes in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday, killing several civilians and security force personnel, state television reported.

Damascus residents said smoke could be seen rising from the areas where the blasts struck.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Flag-waving crowds took to the streets of Syrian cities on Thursday in an orchestrated show of loyalty to President Bashar al-Assad on the first anniversary of an increasingly bloody revolt against his rule.

Official media announced government forces had cleared “armed terrorists” from the northwestern city of Idlib, suggesting the army was gaining ground in the uprising which has cost at least 8,000 lives and crippled the Syrian economy.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria marked the first anniversary on Thursday of an increasingly bloody uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, with recent army gains unlikely to quell the revolt and no diplomatic solution in sight.

Official media announced government forces had cleared “armed terrorists” from the northwestern city of Idlib and said supporters of Assad would hold rallies across Syria.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Bashar al-Assad always said Syria would be different.

When the Arab uprisings first erupted more than a year ago, the Syrian president confidently said his government was in tune with its people, ready to reform on its own terms, and immune from the turmoil starting to sweep the region.

Within weeks he was proved wrong, when a few dozen protesters took to the streets of Damascus on March 15 to call for greater freedoms, setting off one of the most protracted and bloodiest of all the Arab revolts.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Bashar al-Assad always said Syria would be different.

When the Arab uprisings first erupted more than a year ago, the Syrian president confidently said his government was in tune with its people, ready to reform on its own terms, and immune from the turmoil starting to sweep the region.

Within weeks he was proved wrong, when a few dozen protesters took to the streets of Damascus on March 15 to call for greater freedoms, setting off one of the most protracted and bloodiest of all the Arab revolts.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has ended talks with President Bashar al-Assad and left Syria with little sign of progress on halting the country’s growing political bloodshed.

“I am optimistic for several reasons,” Annan said in Damascus on Sunday. “The situation is so bad and so dangerous that all of us cannot afford to fail.”

BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has ended talks with President Bashar al-Assad and left Syria with little sign of progress on halting the country’s growing political bloodshed.

“I am optimistic for several reasons,” Annan said in Damascus on Sunday. “The situation is so bad and so dangerous that all of us cannot afford to fail.”

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, on a difficult peace mission to Syria, prepared to hold more talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday as Syrian forces pursued a drive to crush rebel bastions in the northwest.

Annan, joint envoy of the United Nations and Arab League, appeared to make little headway on Saturday in a “candid and comprehensive” meeting with Assad, who blamed the bloodshed on “terrorists” seeking to destabilize Syria.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan meets President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday to press for a political solution to Syria’s year-long uprising and bloody crackdown in which thousands of people have been killed.

Annan’s talks in Damascus come a day after activists said Assad’s forces killed at least 68 people as they sought to extend control over the rebellious city of Homs and crush armed opposition in the northern province of Idlib.

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said it was only a matter of time before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad left office, but squarely opposed a call to launch U.S. military action to force him out.

Obama said what was happening in Syria was “heartbreaking and outrageous”, and witness accounts of the devastation after government troops bombarded the rebel stronghold of Baba Amr into submission have given attempts to reach a diplomatic solution renewed urgency.