On the eve of Mr Annan's arrival in Damascus today, activists reported a further 26 deaths across the country.
The Syrian opposition reacted angrily yesterday (Friday) to calls by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, for dialogue with President Bashar al-Assad's government, saying he was "living on Mars".
On the eve of Mr Annan's arrival in Damascus today, activists reported a further 26 deaths across the country, including eight people killed by mortars fired by the army at protesters in Homs.
The deaths occurred less than 24 hours after Baroness Amos, the UN's chief humanitarian officer, was taken on a tour of the central city by officials that included Baba Amr, the rebel stronghold bombarded for 26 consecutive days.
Speaking in Turkey yesterday, Lady Amos said she had demanded unhindered access for humanitarian aid, but the Syrians granted permission for only a "limited assessment exercise by UN agencies and the Syrian authorities".
The Syrian regime was stung yesterday by the defection of two Syrian generals, a colonel and two sergeants who fled to Turkey, a day after the deputy oil minister Abdo Hussameddin also deserted.
Mr Annan, who has been appointed joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, shocked regime opponents by suggesting they should seek a political settlement and speaking strongly against outside military assistance.
Burhan Ghalioun, president of the Syrian National Council, the main exiled opposition group, said: "These comments do not give a lot of hope for people in Syria being massacred every day."
Activists inside Syria also rejected Mr Annan's call for dialogue. "It seems he lives on Mars," said Mohammad Saeed, from the Damascus suburb of Douma. "We can't hear each other even if we wanted to. What dialogue are they talking about?"
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