‘Political change needed to end violence in Syria’

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.

Speaking in Damascus at the end of a five-day trip during which he met president Bashar al-Assad, Lakhdar Brahimi did not spell out detailed proposals but said that only substantial change would meet the demands of ordinary Syrians.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov added to the envoy’s call for a peaceful solution when he told a senior Syrian diplomat that only a “broad inter-Syria dialogue and political process” could end the crisis.