Change is 'urgently' needed in Syria, says new UN envoy

Beirut, Sept. 2 (ANI): United Nation's new envoy to Syria has said President Bashar al-Assad's regime should realize that the need for change is both 'urgent' and 'necessary' and that his regime must meet the 'legitimate' demands of the Syrian people.

"The Syrian Government realizes more than me the extent of the suffering endured by the Syrian people," Lakhdar Brahimi said on his first day as the new U.N. envoy in Syria, replacing Kofi Annan, who quit after his six-point plan including an April 12 cease-fire failed to stop the bloodshed.

"The need for change is urgent and necessary. The Syrian people must be satisfied and their legitimate demands are met," Brahimi said in New York.

Brahimi's comments came in an interview, as Syrian warplanes and ground forces pounded the country's largest city, Aleppo, with bombs and mortar rounds while soldiers clashed with rebels in the narrow streets of its old quarter, according to activists.

According to CBS News, Brahimi is a former Algerian foreign minister and a seasoned international trouble shooter, he said that he enjoyed the 'full and clear' support of the U.N. Security Council.

He also called for an end to the violence, but acknowledged that he does not have a set of preconceived ideas on how to resolve the Syrian conflict, the report said.

"We will try to overcome the obstacles that Kofi Annan faced," he added.

The latest violence shows that government troops are still struggling to regain full control of the city from the lightly-armed rebels nearly five weeks after they stormed their way into it in a surprise offensive, the report said.

Activists said rebels also captured an air defense facility in the east of the country near the border with Iraq, the report added. (ANI)