Only Syria can dismiss Assad

UN special envoy Kofi Annan said on Monday that Syria cannot resist transformation and that the ongoing crisis cannot drag on forever, RIA-Novosti reports.

"This cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely and, as I have told the parties on the ground, they cannot resist the transformational winds that are blowing," he said at a news conference in Moscow.


It is up to the Syrians to decide on President Bashar Assad’s resignation, Annan said.

Annan met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on Sunday. At the meeting he said that he will continue to strive to ensure access to humanitarian aid for those who need it so that peace can finally prevail in Syria.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted Annan’s six-point plan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, threatening unspecified "further steps" if it failed to comply. The plan calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.


More than 8,000 people have been killed in Syria since protests against President Bashar al-Assad began a year ago.