My thoughts – our thoughts – today are with the people of Syria. They have suffered far too much for too long. They desperately need the violence to stop. They yearn for peace and stability.

As you know, I visited Damascus earlier this week, and have since benefited from consultations in Amman and Beirut. I am very glad to have this opportunity for a full discussion with you. I will be traveling to New York next week for serious consultations there, including briefing the General Assembly and the Security Council on 7 June.

I took on this job on your behalf, and on behalf of the UN, three months ago. My appointment was a sign that developments in Syria were totally unacceptable -- with terrible implications for the Syrian people, the region, and the international community.

Since then, I have seen the Security Council unite. We secured agreement of the Government and armed opposition elements on the six-point plan. Many of you in this room were crucial in helping deliver that agreement.

Today we have 291 UN military observers and over 90 UN civilians in the Mission in Syria, able to move freely throughout the country and provide objective reports that can inform the Security Council and all of you.

But we do not have what this was set up to achieve: an end to the appalling violence and abuses, and the launch of a political process for a transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.

On 12 April, the violence stopped. But that did not hold. Even though we observed a reduction in the use of heavy weapons and in the killing, the levels of violence were still totally unacceptable and atrocities took place. And we saw the emergence of a third actor, with bombings in different parts of the country – adding a dangerous new element.

Recently, the violence has escalated once again. The massacres of children, women and men in El Houleh is a terrible crime - worst of all, it is one of many atrocities to have taken place. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and I condemned this crime and called for accountability, as did your Secretary-General Elaraby, and many others. The Security Council and the Human Rights Council have called for these attacks to be investigated.

The specter of all-out civil war, with a worrying sectarian dimension, grows by the day. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are internally displaced. The crisis is having regional spillover, in the form of tensions and incidents across the border, abductions of nationals and foreigners, and refugee flows to neighbouring states. I felt the concerns of Syria’s immediate neighbours very acutely in my consultations in recent days.

Meanwhile, arbitrary detentions continue, and alongside that, widespread allegations of human rights abuses of all kinds. Some humanitarian aid is flowing to the needy, but nowhere near enough, since access has been constrained.

There are, it must be said, more foreign journalists operating in Syria – and, most important, there is a UN Mission on the ground, the eyes and ears of the international community. They are working courageously in dangerous circumstances, and they have had a calming effect in some areas. They are engaging all parties on the ground, including the local political and armed opposition, which is vitally important. I commend General Mood and the brave men and women serving under him. They are thoroughly professional and dedicated.

It is not the job of the Monitors to stop the violence - that is for the protagonists. But if they have the will to stop the fighting, the Monitors can help them implement the commitments they make to each other and the international community. This would promote peace and stability and the conditions for a political process.

However, dear Friends, as we have made clear in regular reports to the Security Council – including briefings given a few days ago in New York – the six-point plan is not being implemented, as it must be.

The situation is complex, and it takes everyone involved in the crisis to act responsibly if the violence is to stop. But the first responsibility lies with the Syrian Government, and with President Assad. I met him in Damascus on 29 May. I spoke to him in very direct and frank terms. I expressed my deep concern at the appalling massacre in el Houleh, which has shocked the world. The crisis is at a tipping point -- as I said to him and I repeat today.

I told President Assad he must act now to implement all points of the plan. He must make bold and visible steps immediately to radically change his military posture and honour his commitment to withdraw heavy weapons and cease all violence. He must release detainees, fully open up to international humanitarian assistance, and allow people to express their views freely in peaceful protest. This is essential to demonstrate his seriousness to the Syrian people and the international community.

Since I left Syria, I have been informed that the Government released 500 detainees. But President Assad needs to do a lot more on this issue, and on the others in the plan too. What is important is not the words he uses but the action he takes – now.

The time is coming, if it is not already here, for a serious review. The international community must decide what it does next. From my consultations with many actors, I sense a clear recognition that things cannot continue as they are. I agree. The international community must work together more effectively to push for implementation of the six point plan in full. We must think this through and we must get it right.

As we consider ways of strengthening international pressure and leverage, let us keep our goals firmly in view: stopping the killing, helping the suffering population, securing a political transition -- and, I would add, ensuring that the crisis does not spread to the neighbours.

For the Syrian people, and for the region, we must recognise the reality and the dangers that we face, and we must overcome them. If the international community can take a unified stance that recognises its shared interests, including our shared interest in transforming the plight of all Syrians, we can do this.

It is vital that when the international community moves, it moves as one. I am working at this moment to encourage unity and common purpose. This is essential to put full pressure on the Government of Syria first and foremost - and, indeed, on all parties. As we consider now what more needs to be done, let me appeal to all of you to engage earnestly and seriously with all other stakeholders, mindful that if regional and international divisions play out in Syria, the Syrian people and the region – your region -- will pay the price.

My purpose remains to help facilitate a way out of the crisis - not in favour of one side or the other - but in favour of the Syrian people as a whole. This requires a political process that transforms Syria’s political system - so that all are protected, represented and free to pursue their aspirations. But first this requires finding a way to stop the armed violence, which means finding ways to put pressure on all those with weapons to stop fighting. This is a daunting challenge - but to succeed, it will take leadership by all to work together both to avoid a wider catastrophe and to give back to the Syrian people their future. I need your support and I will welcome your views.

Before I conclude, let me add one other point, which is very concerning. In Damascus, I told President Assad and Foreign Minister Moallem that Syria’s refusal to grant entry to Syria of my Deputy, Nasser Al-Kidwa, on the grounds that Syria does not accept any role of the League of Arab States, is not acceptable, and not wise. My mandate is clear as the Joint Special Envoy of the League and the UN, just as it is clear that the League must be part of any political solution to the crisis in Syria. We will continue to make clear to the Syrian Government that they should not put such obstacles in the way of my mission – a mission which, for all its difficulties, I am honoured to carry out on your behalf as well as on behalf of the United Nations.

Thank you, dear friends. Shukran jazeelan.