Syrian regime must be ousted, says diplomat defector Nawaf al-Fares Syria's former ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf al-Fares, said only force could remove Bashar al-Assad. Photograph: Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images Syria's former envoy to Iraq has dismissed the international peace plan prepared to stop the violence and called for the regime of Bashar al-Assad to be violently removed. One day after leaving his post in Baghdad and fleeing to Qatar, the ambassador, Nawaf al-Fares, told al-Jazeera TV that only force could remove the Syrian dictator. He had earlier denounced the embattled regime and called on other ambassadors to do the same. The defection of Fares, a leading member of Syria's diplomatic corps, drew an angry response from Damascus, which claims he was sacked and will face "judicial" measures. The main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, claims it has been talking to other Syrian diplomats, who will soon follow suit. The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said a dialogue had started with a second high-profile defector, Brigadier General Manaf Tlass, who was regarded as a confidant and friend of the Assad family until he fled to Turkey last Thursday. Meanwhile, the international diplomatic response to the escalating crisis remains in gridlock, with Russia and China continuing to oppose a western move to press the United Nations to threaten Damascus with sanctions before 20 July. On that date, the mandate expires for the current UN mission which, despite a 90-day remit, has failed to prevent a mounting casualty rate; daily death tolls now often top 100. Western nations want to ensure that a 10-day ultimatum to Syria to withdraw its heavy weapons and pull back from towns and cities is a central part of a new resolution that must be passed before the current mission's term expires next Friday. Russia said on Thursday it would oppose any vote that aimed to impose sanctions through Chapter 7 of the UN charter, just as it had on the two other occasions that other UN security council members tried to force through tough measures against Syria. "If they decide to do it, knowing it would be unacceptable to us, we will not let it pass," the Russian deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, told the news agency Interfax. As a whole, their resolution is unbalanced and foresees that obligations should only be fulfilled by the Syrian government. Practically nothing is said about the obligations of the opposition. Kofi Annan, the backer of the original UN mission and the peace plan that accompanied it, has warned of "clear consequences" if a ceasefire does not take root this time. Annan has returned from visits to Damascus, Tehran and Baghdad, where he has tried to secure support for a new attempt to establish a ceasefire in Syria. He characterised his meeting with Assad as "constructive" and leaked minutes from the get-together appear to show that both men will aim for a ceasefire based on an initial detente in selected areas. The violence in Syria has shown no signs of abating despite the talks, with clashes continuing in the north and west of the country and mortars reportedly used on the outskirts of Damascus, a first so close to the capital.