Qatar says Annan successor needs new Syria plan

BEIRUT - Qatar said on Saturday that any successor to Kofi Annan as international envoy for Syria must pursue a new strategy because of what it said was the failure of Annan's six-point peace plan.

"There must be a clear modification to this plan now because the issue of the six points is finished," Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said. "None of them has been implemented."

Annan said on Thursday he was stepping down as joint representative for the Arab League and United Nations on Syria.

His peace plan was centered around an April ceasefire agreement between President Bashar al-Assad's government and rebel fighters, as a first step towards political dialogue. The ceasefire never took hold and thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed since it was agreed.

Sheikh Hamad blamed the failure of the plan on "Syrian procrastination" and the increased bloodshed.

"We, as Arab countries will not accept another envoy representing the Arabs and the Security Council because the circumstances have completely changed," Sheikh Hamad told Al Jazeera television.

"We believe that the task of any new envoy - if they want participation from Arab states - much be changed so that the mission is the peaceful transfer of power in Syria."