Damascus, Sept 15 (Petra) — U.N.-Arab league envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on Saturday met Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on his first mission to the violence-wracked country since he replaced Kofi Annan.

He told reporters after the talks that there is “common ground” for them to resolve the crisis, adding that Assad and the Syrian government had pledged support for his mission.

Brahimi said a tough task lies ahead of him as the situation in Syria is serious and escalating posing a danger to the Syrian people, the region and the whole world. But he vowed to persevere.

“We will do our best to put forward ideas and find whatever the situation needs of resources and energy to assist the Syrian people to come out of this ordeal,” he told a press conference.

Asked about prospects to halt the bloodshed, the veteran Algerian diplomat said: “We have to bridge the gap by finding a common ground, which exists and lies in the fact that all parties love their country and we have to assist them.” Assad told Brahimi that the success of a political mission hinged on putting pressure on countries that finance and train the terrorists, and which smuggle weapons to Syria, to stop their actions.

(petra.gov.jo / 15.09.2012)