Syria: Dozens of civilians killed in Homs, car bomb kills a school girl, wounds 25 other girls in Daraa, Kofi Annan says "the process is on the right track"

Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmed Hassun (R) and UN-Arab League envoy for Syria Kofi Annan arrive for a meeting in Damascus on March 11, 2012. Former UN chief Annan was set to hold a second round of talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on his mission to end a year of bloodshed, after the army stormed a rebel stronghold. (Getty Images)

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Dozens of civilians were killed in cold blood in Homs, the Syrian government and opposition said on Monday, although they disputed responsibility for what both sides called a massacre.

The carnage in Homs, as well as an army assault on Idlib city in the northwest, coincided with a weekend visit to Syria by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who was seeking agreement on a ceasefire, humanitarian access and a political dialogue.

"This is the beginning of a process and the joint special envoy feels the process is on the right track," Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said from Qatar on Monday.

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AMMAN (Reuters) - A car bomb killed a schoolgirl on Monday and wounded 25 others at a school in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, the scene of sporadic street fighting between Free Syrian Army rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's troops, an opposition activist said.

"The car exploded at nine in the morning in al-Kashef neighborhood in front of al-Mahatta High School for Girls, which has been active in (anti-Assad) demonstrations," Maher Abdelhaq told Reuters from the city on the border with Jordan.