Syrian rebel chief formally resigns

24 May 2012, 1:37 pm   -   Source: AAP

The head of Syria's main opposition bloc, Burhan Ghalioun, formally resigned from his post, the Syrian National Council says.

The head of Syria's main opposition bloc, Burhan Ghalioun, formally resigned from his post, a statement issued by the Syrian National Council (SNC) said after a two-day meeting in Istanbul.

The SNC "office decided to accept the resignation and to ask the council president to pursue his work until the election of a new president at a meeting on June 9-10", it said.

Ghalioun announced his resignation on May 17 to avert divisions within the opposition bloc, after activists on the ground accused him of monopolising power.

The statement also said Syria's unwillingness to stick to a peace deal brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and the continuing shelling and killing in the country were "a deliberate attempt to scupper the plan".

It called on "the international community to immediately act to adopt a new mechanism, through the (UN) Security Council, to force the Syrian regime to put an end to its crimes because as it is this regime only reacts to force".

The bloodshed comes despite a more than month-old ceasefire crafted by Annan as part of a plan aimed at ending violence that has swept Syria since March 2011 when a popular revolt erupted against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The plan includes the deployment in flashpoint areas of around 300 UN observers.

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