Annan Hopes Syria Meeting will Take Place 'Soon'

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan hopes a key meeting to address the crisis in Syria will take place soon, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

Annan, who brokered the faltering six-point plan aimed at ending the bloodshed, wants to bring together world and regional powers to put pressure on Syria's leader.

"We hope that this contact group meeting will take place soon," Ahmad Fawzi told reporters, adding that a date, venue and list of participants had not yet been decided but were "coming together.”

"The objective of creating this group is to give teeth to the plan, is to convince the parties to implement the plan in its entirety -- it's not to create a new plan," said Fawzi.

"This is the only plan on the table at the moment."

Annan confirmed after a private Security Council meeting last week that discussions were being held on establishing a contact group.

Diplomats said Annan sees the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and United States -- taking part along with Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others.