Syria blamed for peace failure - Annan

Updated: 12:14, Friday June 8, 2012

International envoy Kofi Annan has told a divided UN Security Council there must be 'consequences' for those obstructing peace efforts in Syria.
Annan confirmed for the first time that Syria was not implementing his peace plan.
He urged the council and the rest of the international community to unite and act immediately to intensify pressure, especially on President Bashar Assad's government.
He was speaking on Thursday after reports that UN observers had come under fire as they tried to reach the site of the latest reported mass killing - about 80 people, including women and children who were shot or stabbed.
Annan said the time had come for 'consequences' - usually a code word for sanctions.
'We must also chart a clearer course for a peaceful transition, if we are to help the government and opposition ...'
Russia and China, Syria's main allies, have vetoed two Security Council resolutions that threatened possible sanctions.
They indicated their continuing opposition in a joint statement after a summit in Beijing on Wednesday. The statement also opposed outside military interference.
Annan said the international community had united behind his plan 'but it now must take that unity to a new level' and 'act as one'.
The Annan plan was the first international measure that won support from Russia and China as well as the US and Europe.
Annan, the joint UN-Arab League envoy, stressed that 'individual actions or interventions will not resolve the crisis' - an apparent reference to opposition fighters and the countries providing them with arms and financial support.
'If we genuinely unite behind one process, and act and speak with one voice, I believe it is still possible to avert the worst and enable Syria to emerge from this crisis,' he said.
In his open briefing to the UN General Assembly earlier on Thursday, Annan said he had told Assad nine days ago in Damascus that he was not implementing the peace plan and strongly urged him 'to take bold and visible steps to now radically change his military posture'.
Since his visit, Annan said: 'Shelling of cities has intensified, government-backed militia seem to have free rein with appalling consequences ... and President Assad has not indicated a change of course.'
Syria's UN Ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, insisted, however, that 'the government of Syria had spared no efforts to implement its part of the Kofi Annan plan'. He said an unjustifiable massacre was taking place in his country but insisted the government was not responsible.
At the start of the General Assembly meeting, assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser asked the 193-member world body to observe a minute of silence for Syrians killed in the latest massacres.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, who also addressed the assembly, called on all Arab states to recall their ambassadors and halt all diplomatic contact with the Syrian government.