Kofi Annan, joint special envoy on Syria for the United Nations and Arab League, is sending a team to Damascus early next week to discuss a proposal to deploy international monitors there, his spokesman said on Friday, March 16, according to Reuters.

"I can confirm that one of the suggestions in the proposals is a mechanism for monitors," Ahmad Fawzi told Reuters in Geneva, commenting on a Syrian foreign ministry statement carried on the official news agency SANA.

"He is sending a team - a technical mission - to Damascus early next week to discuss details of this mechanism and how to implement other elements of the proposals," Fawzi said.