Syria discusses peace plan with Russia

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad yesterday sent a senior diplomat to Moscow yesterday to discuss proposals by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to end the conflict convulsing his country, Syrian and Lebanese sources said.

Brahimi, who saw Assad on Monday and who is planning to hold a series of meetings with Syrian officials and dissidents in Damascus this week, is trying to broker a peaceful transfer of power.

More than 44,000 Syrians have been killed in a revolt against four decades of Assad family rule, a conflict that began with peaceful protests but which has descended into civil war.