Assad must go, says US

The United States on Thursday renewed its call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, marking the fourth anniversary of the civil war by paying tribute to "the brave Syrians" fighting tyranny.

"For four years the Assad regime has answered Syrians' calls for freedom and reform with unrelenting brutality, authoritarianism and destruction," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

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"As we have long said, Assad must go and be replaced through a negotiated, political transition that is representative of the Syrian people."

Without the departure of Assad, it would not be possible "to fully stabilize" the country, Psaki said.

Last year was the deadliest yet in the conflict, with at least 76,000 people killed out of more than 210,000 since it began on March 15, 2011 with peaceful demonstrations, inspired by the Arab Spring in Egypt and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council on Thursday to overcome divisions and take action to end the war in Syria as the conflict entered its fifth year with little prospect for peace.

"The Syrian people feel increasingly abandoned by the world as they enter the fifth year of the war that has torn their country apart," Ban said in a statement.

The suffering continues "under the eyes of the international community, still divided and incapable of taking collective action to stop the killing and destruction," he said.