As battles raged on Thursday in Syria's second city, Aleppo, between
rebel fighters and government forces using war planes and artillery, U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced in New York that Annan had said he
would go at the end of the month.
"Kofi Annan deserves our profound admiration
for the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to
this most difficult and potentially thankless of assignments," Ban said.
Talks were under way to find a successor.
Annan's mission, centered on an April ceasefire
that never took hold, has looked irrelevant as fighting has intensified in
Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere.
Annan blamed "finger-pointing and
name-calling" at the U.N. Security Council for his decision to quit but
suggested his successor may have better luck.
Russia, the United States, Britain and France
began pointing fingers at one another over who was responsible for Annan's
sudden announcement he would depart. One senior council diplomat said it was
now time to acknowledge the "utter irrelevance of an impotent Security
Council" on Syria.
Syria expressed regret that Annan was going.
Annan suggested that the continued arming of all
sides in the conflict and the Security Council deadlock had undermined his
ability to pursue a diplomatic solution.
"The increasing militarization on the ground
and the clear lack of unity in the Security Council, have fundamentally changed
the circumstances for the effective exercise of my role," Annan told
reporters.
In an editorial published on the Financial Times'
website, Annan said Russia, China and Iran "must take concerted efforts to
persuade Syria's leadership to change course and embrace a political
transition" -- meaning the departure of Assad.
"It is clear that President Bashar al-Assad must
leave office," Annan said.
Annan wrote that Western powers, the Saudis and
Qatar must start "pressing the opposition to embrace a fully inclusive
political process - that will include communities and institutions currently
associated with the government."
Ban's spokesman, Martin Nesirky, declined to
comment on who might replace Annan but said a decision could come soon.
BLAME GAME
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strong
supporter of Assad, said he regretted Annan's decision to step aside and
referred to him as a "brilliant diplomat.
Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin,
suggested to reporters in New York that Western powers that had opposed
"reasonable and balanced proposals" in the Security Council had
undermined Annan's peace efforts from the start.
The White House pinned the blame squarely on
Moscow and Beijing, which together vetoed three resolutions intended to
increase the pressure on Assad, thereby undercutting Annan.
"Annan's resignation highlights the failure
at the United Nations Security Council of Russia and China to support
resolutions, meaningful resolutions, against Assad that would have held Assad
accountable," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air
Force One.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague echoed
that view.
"We understand Annan's frustration that, due
to vetoes in the Security Council, the international community was unable to
give him the support that he needed and requested," Hague said in a
statement.
Hague reiterated that Annan's six-point peace plan
for Syria was still the best option for securing an end to the conflict. French
Ambassador Gerard Araud, Security Council president this month, shared that
view.
Washington, U.N. diplomats say, has been convinced
that the Security Council cannot play a meaningful role in the Syria crisis since
Russia and China first vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution in October.
But it reluctantly supported European efforts to try to get the council to take
action.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice issued a statement that
made no mention of the United Nations playing a role in resolving the Syria
conflict.
"We will continue to work urgently with our
partners in the international community — including the over 100 countries in
the Friends of the Syrian People — to accelerate the transition, provide
support to the opposition, and meet the increasingly grave humanitarian needs
of the Syrian people," Rice said.
Council diplomats have said privately the United
States and Gulf Arab states have become increasingly frustrated in recent weeks
with what they saw as Annan's dogged commitment to diplomacy at a time when
they believe all avenues for dialogue with Assad have been exhausted.
France's U.N. envoy, Araud, said the council
appeared to be "irreconcilably" deadlocked but that it would be
dangerous for countries to go outside the United Nations to resolve the Syria
conflict.
But that is already happening. The United States,
other Western powers, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are increasing support for the
rebels, U.N. diplomats say, and are reconciling themselves to the view that
Syria's civil war will be long and bloody.
Separately, Araud said the U.N. observer mission
would likely "disappear" on August 19, the day its recently renewed
mandate expires.
BATTLE FOR ALEPPO RAGES
In Syria, the fight for Aleppo, the latest battlefield,
intensified. Rebels turned the gun of a captured tank against government
forces, shelling an air base north of the city.
Assad's troops bombarded the strategic Salaheddine
district in Aleppo itself with tank and artillery fire supported by combat
aircraft, while rebels tried to consolidate their hold on areas they have
seized.
In the capital, Damascus, troops overran a suburb
on Wednesday and killed at least 35 people, mostly unarmed civilians, residents
and activist organizations said.
The fighting for Syria's two biggest cities
highlights the country's rapid slide into full-scale civil war 17 months after
the peaceful street protests that marked the start of the anti-Assad uprising.
The head of the U.N. peacekeeping department,
Herve Ladsous, confirmed to reporters on Thursday that Syria's rebels now had
heavy weapons.
World powers have watched with mounting concern as
diplomatic efforts, including Annan's mediation effort, have faltered, and
violence that has already claimed an estimated 18,000 lives worsens.
About 60 people were killed in Syria on Thursday,
43 of them civilians, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights.
Also on Thursday, activists and residents in the
central city of Hama said Syrian forces killed at least 50 people during
clashes with rebels there.
The rebels' morale was boosted when they turned a
government tank's gun on the Menakh airfield 35 km (22 miles) north of Aleppo,
a possible staging post for army reinforcements and a base for war planes and
helicopter gunships.
Reuters correspondents heard heavy weapons fire on
Thursday morning from Salaheddine in southwest Aleppo, a gateway to the city
that has been fought over for the past week.
Heavily armed government troops are trying to
drive a force of a few thousand rebel fighters from the city in battle whose
outcome could be a turning point in the conflict.
Aleppo had long stayed aloof from the uprising,
but many of its 2.5 million residents are now caught up in battle zones, facing
shortages of food, fuel, water and cooking gas. Thousands have fled and
hospitals and makeshift clinics can barely cope with casualties after more than
a week of combat.
The U.N. World Food Program and Food and
Agriculture Organization said up to 3 million Syrians were likely to need food,
crop and livestock aid in the next 12 months as the conflict has prevented
farmers harvesting crops.
In New York, the U.N. General Assembly was
expected to vote on Friday on a resolution drafted by Saudi Arabia that backs
the rebels.
Russia, which has consistently supported Syria at
the United Nations, said it would not back the resolution because it was
unbalanced and would encourage rebels to keep fighting.
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