Damascus is interested in the success of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's mission intended to restore peace in Syria, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said as the bloody uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad entered its second year on Thursday.

“The success of Kofi Annan's mission is in the interest of Syria; we are positive about it, although this process is not only in the hands of the Syrian government,” Makdissi said in an interview with the Egyptian MENA news agency published on Thursday, March 15.

Former UN Secretary General Annan travelled to Syria over the weekend to try to persuade Assad to stop his crackdown on protesters, allow humanitarian aide to be supplied to violence-hit areas in Syria and launch a dialogue with opposition forces.

He left Damascus on Sunday without a deal, but said he had offered Assad “concrete proposals” and felt optimistic about his mission, RIA Novosti reported.

According to UN estimates, more than 7,500 people have lost their lives since anti-government protests broke out in Syria last March, instigated by popular uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.

On Wednesday, Syrian government forces began shelling the southern city of Deraa, the birthplace of the protest movement, media reports said. Also on Wednesday, Syrian troops overrun the rebel-held north-western city of Idlib after days of clashes with opposition fighters.