The international envoy seeking a solution to Syria’s 21-month-old conflict said yesterday that political change was needed to end the violence which has killed 44,000 people, and called for a transitional government to rule until elections.

Syria has accused some UN Security Council members of supporting “terrorism” in a speech clearly aimed at the United States and its allies that support the Syrian opposition.

Syria’s opposition appealed for international backing today, a day after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aimed at pressuring President Bashar Assad to end his bloody crackdown on an uprising that has raged for almost 11 months.

SYRIAN dissidents are urging US President Barack Obama to call on Syria’s president to quit power immediately and to press for UN sanctions against Damascus.