The UN envoy to Syria Kofi Annan told the Security Council that his plan aimed at ending the crisis in Syria was the last chance to avoid civil war in the country, as his spokesman said that the envoy would soon visit Damascus.

The UN envoy to Syria Kofi Annan told the Security Council that his plan aimed at ending the crisis in Syria was the last chance to avoid civil war in the country, as his spokesman said that the envoy would soon visit Damascus.

"The level of violence and abuses are unacceptable", Annan told reporters after briefing the 15-nation council on his peace plan.

Annan said his plan was possibly "the last chance to avoid civil war", diplomats said. He told the council he planned to return to Damascus but stressed that his peace bid was not an "open-ended" opportunity for the Syrian leader who is battling an increasingly bitter uprising.

"I am sure I am not telling you any secret when I tell you that there is profound concern that the country could otherwise descend into full civil war and the implications of that are quite frightening", he said, adding: “we cannot allow that to happen”.

Assad bears "primary responsibility" for ending the military campaign and "creating an environment conducive to a political process" by withdrawing troops and heavy weapons from cities, he added.

ANNAN TO VISIT DAMASCUS
For his part, Annan spokesman said the envoy planned plans to return to Damascus in coming weeks, adding it would depend on events in Syria.

There is no indication yet of the timing of the trip, Fawzi told AFP, but it would "certainly not" be in coming days.
"I would say weeks but all depends on what we hear from Damascus," he said in a written statement.

The UN Security Council agreed to send 300 unarmed military observers to Syria to monitor the cessation of hostilities but the death toll has continued to mount.
The observer mission has an initial 90-day mandate running to mid-July, but the United States and other western nations have expressed doubts that it will be extended.

Sixty-one observers are now in six locations in Syria, said a UN peacekeeping spokesman, Andre-Michel Essoungou, and more than 100 are expected by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, US ambassador Susan Rice said "the situation in Syria remains dire, especially for the millions who continue to endure daily attacks and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance."
"The United States remains focused on increasing the pressure on the Assad regime and on Assad himself to step down", Rice said.

Russian ambassador however said after Annan's briefing that “things are moving in a positive direction”.
China's UN envoy Li Baodong told the Security Council that events in Syria have been "developing positively", diplomats said.