U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's expects President Bashar al-Assad to implement ceasefire immediately, the former U.N. chief's spokesman said Friday, Reuters reported.
"We expect him to implement this plan immediately. Clearly we have not seen a cessation of hostilities on the ground. This is our great concern," the spokesman said, adding that the "deadline is now" for the Syrian regime to cease all violence.
The spokesman also said Annan plans to visit the Iranian capital, Tehran, for talks on Syria, but that no date for the visit has been set yet.
Assad has vowed to work to make a success of the six-point peace plan drawn up by the U.N.-Arab League envoy, Syrian state news agency SANA said Thursday.
The plan calls for a commitment to stop all armed violence, a daily two-hour humanitarian ceasefire, media access to all areas affected by the fighting, an inclusive Syrian-led political process, a right to demonstrate, and release of arbitrarily detained people.
"It's imperative that the killings stop and the human rights abuses stop and the violence stops," said Annan's spokesman.
"I can't tell you what the next steps will be if they don't stop now," he said, adding however that Annan was due to brief the U.N. Security Council on Monday and "we will take it from there."
Annan is also working to convince the Syrian opposition to "lay down their arms and start talking," the spokesman.
Edited by: S. Isayev
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