Kofi Annan: It's up to the Syrians themselves to decide if President Bashar Assad should step down

Kofi Annan, the United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria, said today that there is not a deadline for ending the Syrian crisis, but it can't be allowed to drag on indefinitely.

Mr Annan told reporters before leaving Moscow for Beijing that the main issue now is to start a dialogue, adding that it would be up to the Syrians themselves to decide if President Bashar Assad should step down.

He has been in Moscow since Saturday for talks on Syria with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

'It may in the end come to that, but it's not up to me, it's up to the Syrians,' said Mr Annan, a former U.N. secretary-general.

'Our effort is to help the Syrians come to the table and find the way out of all of this.' Read More