Geneva: International envoy Kofi Annan on Friday urged the international community to raise the level of pressure on Syria’s rival sides, warning that darker days are to come in the crisis-torn if the international community does not “act now.”
“It’s time for countries of influence to raise the level of pressure on the parties on the ground and to persuade them to stop the killing and start the talking,” he told a press conference in Geneva alongside the Chief of the U.N. Syria monitoring force. General Robert Mood.
“The longer we wait, the darker Syria’s future becomes,” Annan said, adding that “the time to act is now.”
Annan also said that Iran should play a part in resolving the crisis in Syria.
An international conference on Syria is to be held in Geneva on June 30.
Syrian government forces have killed more than 14,000 people since 15 months of violence began with a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last year, according to activists. Regime forces were supposed to withdraw from cities and towns under Annan’s peace plan, which called for a ceasefire to begin on April 12.
U.N. observers sent to Syria to monitor the ceasefire deal halted operations on Saturday, and it is unclear whether the U.N. Security Council will extend the mission’s mandate when it expires on July 21.
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