Kofi Annan warns of risk of civil war in Syria

International envoy Kofi Annan says world powers share a “profound concern” that Syria's violence is spiraling into civil war but have pledged to deploy 300 truce monitors there by the end of the month.

Annan said today in Geneva that there has been "a spate of bombings that are really worrying" and that the UN's cease-fire-monitoring mission "is the only remaining chance to stabilize the country."

He told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council by videoconference from Geneva that "there is a profound concern that the country could otherwise descend into full civil war, and the implications of that are frightening."

Annan said failure to prevent a civil war "will not only affect Syria, it will have an impact on the whole region."

AP