Sharaa cancels visit to New York, meeting with Annan

Syria's Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa has canceled his visit to New York on Tuesday to take part at the UN Security Council session due to be held today and asked Syria's representative to the UN to speak on his behalf, an official source to Foreign Ministry said.

"Because today's session of the UN Council is limited to permanent representatives, and there is the possibility of holding session on the ministerial level next week; Sharaa has postponed his visit," the source said. The Foreign Ministry statement noted that a phone call was held last night between Sharaa and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in which Sharaa clarified Syria's stances and where Syria's permanent representative was assigned to explain Syria's position before the UN Security Council.