Peace envoy Brahimi back in Damascus

Lakhdar Brahimi makes his second trip to Syria in attempts to end violence An air strike near a bakery in the rebel-held town of Halfaya in the central Syrian province of Hama killed dozens of people on Sunday. "Many were killed in an air strike on Halfaya," said the UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, while activists in Hama said the raid had targeted a bakery in the town.
In the meantime, international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in the Syrian capital on Sunday on a new mission to try and resolve a brutal conflict which has raged for almost two years.
Officials said the UN-Arab League envoy, seen at the Sheraton Hotel in central Damascus, travelled overland to Syria from neighbouring Lebanon for a previously unannounced visit.
"The international envoy crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border at about 2:00 pm (1200 GMT)," one official said, after reports that Brahimi had flown into Beirut International Airport.
Brahimi last visited Syria on October 19 - since then fighting has broken out between government forces and rebels on the road to Damascus airport.
During his last visit which lasted five days, he met with President Bashar al-Assad and other top officials over a temporary ceasefire for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. Despite pledges, the truce did not hold.