US supports Annan's peace plan

WASHINGTON - The White House on Thursday expressed its support to the peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League joint envoy Kofi Annan, despite its continued skepticism on the willingness of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to carry it out.

Calling on Assad to abide by his commitments to comply with Annan's plan to withdraw his forces and cease fire, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States is "very skeptical about his willingness to do that."

However, Carney said during a press gaggle on board Air Force One that Washington still supports Annan's plan "because it has brought about some decrease in violence, and because it will help lay the foundation for a political transition that will take place eventually."

Carney condemned the bombings in Syrian capital Damascus earlier in the day, which killed at least 55 people.

"Attacks like these that result in the indiscriminate killing and injury of civilians are reprehensible and cannot be justified," he told reporters.

However, Carney refused to characterize the attacks as "representative" of Syria's opposition, blaming the deadly blasts on the "extremist elements" who are trying to "take advantage of the chaos" in the country.

At least 55 people were killed and 370 others wounded in the twin suicide bombings that shook an intelligence complex in Damascus. The blasts, the latest in a string of bombings, came as UN observers are being sent in to monitor a ceasefire that was brokered by Annan and went into effect on April 12.