GENEVA: Kofi Annan said Thursday he had quit as UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, complaining of a lack of support and the increasing militarisation of the conflict.

“I did not receive all the support that the cause deserved,” Annan, speaking in French, told a hastily scheduled press conference in Geneva.

He added that “continuous finger-pointing and name-calling” in the UN Security Council had hindered his attempts to implement the so-called six-point peace plan.

“The increasing militarisation on the ground and the lack of unanimity in the Security Council fundamentally changed my role,” the former UN chief said.

But he predicted that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would go “sooner or later” and did not rule out his successor having more luck or success.