World powers agree on steps for Syria; blast shatters funeral - CNN

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Smoke rises after an explosion Thursday near the Palace of Justice in central Damascus, Syria.

• NEW: International community reaches consensus on way forward
• Hague urges world powers to "create a roadmap to lead Syria back from the brink"
• Annan: "The way things have been going thus far -- we are not helping anyone"
• Opposition leader says no transition is possible with al-Assad in power

Geneva, Switzerland (CNN) -- Members of the international community on Saturday forged an agreement for a transition to end the violence in and bring peace to Syria.
The first step should be a recommitment to a ceasefire by both sides and implementation of a U.N. and Arab League-backed six-point plan without waiting for the actions of others, Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan said.
A key to the process will be a transitional government, which Annan said could include members of the current Syrian regime. The make-up of such a body would be decided by the Syrians, he said.
"We are determined to work together urgently and intensively, to bring an end to the violence and the human rights abuses and the launch of a Syrian-led political process leading to a transition that meets the legit aspiration of the Syrian people," Annan said.
The agreement also calls on the Syrian government to release detainees and allow journalists access to the country. The right to peaceful demonstrations must be respected, Annan said.
The agreement is a last-gasp attempt to end the carnage in Syria and contain a growing crisis that some diplomats warn could potentially engulf the entire region. The meeting took place in Geneva Saturday.
Earlier, Annan issued a dire warning as the opening session began at the United Nations' European headquarters.
"We should never have reached this point," he said. His plan, he said, has not been implemented. Some U.N. members, he said, "simultaneously took national or collective initiatives of their own, undermining the process."
"The way things have been going thus far -- we are not helping anyone."
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http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...story-body.jpgItalian priest expelled from Syria
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http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...story-body.jpgBlast shakes Syrian capitol
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http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...story-body.jpgSyrian opposition armed and organized
U.S. diplomats were pessimistic as well. "Discussions remain challenging," a senior State Department official told reporters. "We're continuing to work on this today but we need a plan that's strong and credible. We may get there; we may not."
The official spoke on background because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.
A one-on-one meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the eve of the Geneva meeting also failed to yield any progress.
International diplomats say the United States and Russia remain divided on the key question of the fate of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
The United States and many other nations demand he step down to make way for a transitional unity government. Russia says his future must be decided solely by the Syrian people, with no outside interference.
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As various diplomats emerged from the morning session, some were more optimistic.
But even Annan, in his opening remarks, was blunt: division among the participating nations is tearing apart any effort at peace.
"In a scenario of open competition between outside powers," he said, "the outcome of this crisis will be measured not by gains made but by who suffers least."
Annan invited top diplomats from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with envoys from Turkey, the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab League, to the emergency meeting.
Before going into the main conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Annan and the British and French foreign ministers. She also held talks with their Turkish and Qatari counterparts.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Russia and China were making negotiations on the subject "very difficult."
In his remarks to the conference, Hague urged his fellow delegates to heed Annan's words and "act with urgency and determination, to create a roadmap to lead Syria back from the brink, and to insist on its full implementation."
Without concrete steps there will be no hope of changing the situation on the ground, he said.
"None of us seek military action in Syria. None of us seek to impose a solution on the Syrian people. None of us seek to change regional power structures, or affect long-standing national interests in Syria," Hague said. "I believe all of us wish to see a peaceful Syrian-led settlement, and a stable, sovereign and free Syria."
Speaking from Cairo, the coordinator of the Preparatory Committee of the Syrian Opposition Conference, Rima Flihan, said no transition would be possible with al-Assad in power.
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"No dialogue will start before Assad steps down and we insist on our right to put on trial everyone who participated in the mass killings against our people and that every single official who ordered these crimes must be held responsible before we discuss a political road map for a political solution," she said.
The bloodshed continued in Syria as the latest round of discussionsgot under way.
At least 43 people died Saturday across Syria, the opposition group Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
They included 10 civilians, children among them, who were killed in Souran, Hama, by regime forces, the group said. Three more were killed in Aleppo, which security forces shelled with rockets and heavy machinery, the LCC said.
Syrian state TV reported deadly clashes between regime forces and "armed terrorists" in Idlib. The LCC earlier reported intense mortar shelling and heavy artillery in the area.
"We're confident that God's victory is near," marchers chanted Friday in demonstrations near the presidential palace in central Damascus. "We will no longer kneel to anyone but God."
They lambasted al-Assad's family with cries of, "We are coming after you, may God curse your soul."
In an interview Thursday with an Iranian state media, al-Assad said Syrians support the state in the face of foreign interference.
Some countries want to see military action against Syria of the same kind as was seen in Libya, al-Assad told Iran's Channel 4, according to Syria's state-run SANA news agency.
"We don't have any information of specific plans, but there are bids by the a few countries to push the issue toward military action," he said.
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The death toll has mounted since March last year, when a bloody government crackdown on peaceful protests intensified into an anti-regime uprising.
The uprising against the al-Assad regime shows no sign of abating. The Local Coordination Committees estimates more than 14,000 people have died in Syria since it started.
Violence rages on 15 months after the anti-government protests started.
On Friday, several explosions hit Damascus neighborhoods, the opposition group said. And regime forces killed at least 70 people across Syria, more than 10 of them children, according to the group.
CNN cannot independently confirm the reports of casualties or violence because Syria restricts access by international journalists.
CNN's Saad Abedine, Joe Sterling, Mariano Castillo and Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report.

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