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Kofi Annan announces resignation as UN special envoy to Syria
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the U.S. is grateful for Mr. Annan’s willingness to lead efforts to seek a resolution to the violence in Syria. But he says the Syrian government was never willing to embrace Mr. Annan’s plan, which included a ceasefire and allowing international monitors to operate in the county.
Mr. Annan’s announcement coincided with Arab countries dropping a demand that Mr. Assad resign in the latest draft of a symbolic UN General Assembly resolution that faces a Friday vote in New York. The watered-down resolution further illustrated the international struggle to build an effective diplomatic approach to Syria’s civil war.
The draft resolution was resisted by countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa who had problems with calling for regime change or sanctions. Russia and China have repeatedly vetoed stronger proposals on Syria in the Security Council, which, as the most powerful arm of the UN, can adopt enforceable resolutions and impose sanctions.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Mr. Annan’s resignation was evidence that the current approach has failed, and that the UN needs to get tougher with Syria.
“We’ve got this appalling bloodshed. I think what we need to do is to ramp things up,” Mr. Cameron told Sky News television.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he accepted the resignation with deep regret, and is discussing possible successors with the Arab League.
“I remain convinced that yet more bloodshed is not the answer; each day of it will only make the solution more difficult while bringing deeper suffering to the country and greater peril to the region,” Mr. Ban said.
