Brahimi mission meets Syria armed opposition

Mokhtar Lamani, the head of U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's office in Syria, met members of the armed opposition on Saturday, a U.N. official told Agence France Presse. Lamani visited the Lajat area some 50 kilometers south of Damascus and "met leaders of the armed opposition," spokesman Khaled al-Masri said. The meeting came "as part of Lakhdar Brahimi's mission to make contact with and discuss with all Syrian parties to hear their points of view regarding the Syria crisis," he added. Masri said Lamani visited Lajat after a trip to Daraa in the south, cradle of the anti-regime uprising that broke out in March of last year. On September 30, Lamani met a rebel Free Syrian Army commander in the town of Talbisseh in Homs province. He held talks with Colonel Kassem Saadeddine and other members of the FSA, which is made up of army deserters and civilians who have taken up arms against President Bashar Assad's regime. Lamani also met the governor of Homs province, Ghassan Abdelaal, and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent.