BEIRUT: The era of one-man rule in Arab countries is drawing to a close and the change sweeping the region will take hold in Syria soon, a United Nations envoy said.

“Syria is in the midst of a profound crisis. I do believe strongly that there will be substantial change,” UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams told Reuters.

“When that will take place it is very difficult to ascertain but I don't think we are talking about years”.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father as leader in 2000, is battling a six-month uprising against his rule in which the United Nations says 2,700 people have been killed.

The protests were inspired by revolts in North Africa which overthrew Arab strongmen who had held power for decades and, in Egypt and Libya, groomed their sons for succession.

“Fundamentally the period of one man rule, or family rule, has ended or is coming to a close in the Arab world,” Williams said in an interview in his offices in the hills above Beirut.

“No longer can any country be governed, in the modern world of communication and highly sophisticated economies, in this way. And that's the root of the problem in Syria.“

Syria's army and security forces remain mostly loyal to Assad, despite a growing number of military defectors. But the economy has suffered from the unrest and from Western sanctions imposed on Syria for repressing the dissent.