Annan Warning

Reuters , Saturday 17 Mar 2012

The UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, warned on Friday that the crisis could spill over into other neighbouring countries and urged international powers to lay aside their differences and back his peace initiative.

While the West and much of the Arab world have lined up to demand that Assad steps down, his allies Russia, China and Iran have defended him and cautioned against outside interference.

"The stronger and more unified your message, the better chance we have of shifting the dynamics of the conflict," an envoy said, summarizing Annan's remarks to a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council.

Turkey said on Friday it might set up a "buffer zone" inside Syria to protect refugees fleeing Assad's forces, raising the prospect of foreign intervention in the revolt, although Ankara made clear it would not move without international backing.

Television showed numerous men and women receiving hospital treatment for multiple wounds following Saturday's strikes. Syria's Sana news agency said the blasts had hit the criminal police force headquarters and the Air Security Directorate.

The attacks followed three suicide bombings in Damascus in December and January, which killed at least 70 people, and an attack in Aleppo in February that killed 28.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahri, in a video recording posted on the Internet last month, urged Muslims around the region to help Syrian rebels.

Syria has previously blamed Al-Qaeda for at least some attacks on its territory and vowed to respond with an iron fist.

The Syrian government denies accusations of brutality and says it is grappling with a foreign-backed insurgency.

Diplomats have warned that without a swift resolution, Syria will descend into a full-blown civil war.

Syria lies in a pivotal position within the Middle East, bordering Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Iraq and Lebanon, and its 23-million-strong population comprises a mix of faiths, sects and ethnic groups.

"I think that we need to handle the situation in Syria very, very carefully," Annan told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

"Yes, we tend to focus on Syria but any miscalculation that leads to major escalation will have impact in the region which would be extremely difficult to manage," he said.

The veteran diplomat presented Assad with a six-point peace proposal at talks in Damascus last weekend. Envoys said he told New York on Friday that the response to date was disappointing.

Assad insists the Syrian opposition stops fighting first, while the United States, Gulf Arabs and Europeans have demanded that Assad and his much stronger forces must make the first move. Russia wants both sides to stop shooting simultaneously.

Annan will send a team to Damascus early next week to discuss a proposal to deploy international monitors in the country, his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi has said.