Envoy warns of crisis without Syria deal

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
Failure to end the violence in Syria and pave the way for a transitional government could result in an international crisis, United Nations envoy Kofi Annan warned on Saturday at a conference in Geneva
According to the Associated Press, Annan told the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — that if they don’t act at talks being held at the U.N.’s European headquarters they face an international crisis of “grave severity” that could foment violence across the Middle East and provide a new front for terrorism
“History is a somber judge and it will judge us all harshly if we prove incapable of taking the right path today,” Annan said, according to reports
The conference opened with a rift between the U.S. and Russia over the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia, a key ally of Syria, has refused to back calls for Assad to step down
The U.S. insists the Syrian president cannot be part of a transitional government
Syria’s internal conflict began with demonstrations in January 2011 calling for an end to the rule of President Assad’s Ba’ath Party
Those demonstrations were part of the “Arab Spring” movement that swept the region and resulted in the ouster of autocratic leaders in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen
In Syria, the army was deployed to quell the uprising
Estimates of the death toll range from 14,000 to 15,000, and higher
Annan had previously brokered a nominal cease-fire in Syria as part of a peace plan for the country, but violence has continued
More than 180 people were killed on Friday, the BBC reported, citing activists, after Syrian forces shelled a suburb of Damascus and the central city of Homs