Twin bombings rock Syrian capital; 27 dead

Twin suicide car bombs Saturday killed at least 27 people in Syria one day after former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was encouraged by the determination of the 15-member Security Council to work toward a plan to stop the government crackdown and killing of civilians.

The car bombs struck intelligence and security buildings in Damascus, killing at least 27 people and wounding 140, according to state media.The blasts were the latest in a string of large-scale attacks targeting the Syrian regime's military and security installations. The previous blasts, also suicide bombings, have killed dozens of people since December.

On Friday, Annan said the Syrian people are "impatient" and weary of the bloodshed.

"The people of Syria want to get on with their lives," he said. "They are tired, they are suffering and I tell you it is for the people of Syria that I toil."

Annan, who went to Syria as a special envoy for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Arab League, met with President Bashar Assad in Damascus several weeks after Russia and China vetoed a resolution in the Security Council that would have condemned the crackdown.

The United Nations estimates that 8,000 people have been killed since Syrians began an uprising as part of the Arab Spring pro-democracy fervor that spread throughout the Middle East.

Annan, who briefed the Security Council via videoconference from Geneva, said he was "encouraged" by the support and determination of the body to work together to end the crisis, hinting that the group would be more unified soon.

"I hope pretty soon you will be hearing one voice from the council," he said.

He added that he was well received by Assad, though he was unable to reach some key milestones, including securing a cease-fire and a plan to deliver humanitarian supplies of food and medicine to civilians in the areas under attack.

Annan said he was sending a team of representatives from his office to continue the talks with Syrian officials and that he would visit the country again when enough progress is made.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that Syria told Annan in a letter that it is "keen to end violence" but insists that armed opposition groups give up their weapons first.

Annan said Friday that the opposition members he met, whom he said were not members of the armed resistance, also wanted to end the fighting.

"Of course they are impatient," Annan said. "The killings have been going on for a year now."

In New York, the Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, said Annan told the members of the council that he had a positive engagement with Syria's president.

"I would like to assure you that Syria is committed to making Mr. Annan's mission successful," he said.With AP