Brahimi dismisses Assad speech on Syria crisis

International peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has dismissed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's proposal to end the crisis in the war-torn country.

Brahimi said it was no better than previous failed initiatives.

"I'm afraid what has come out is very much a repeat of previous initiatives that obviously did not work... it's not really different and perhaps is even more sectarian and one-sided," he told the BBC.

"The time of reforms granted magnanimously from above has passed. People want to have a say in how they are governed and they want to take hold of their own future."