Kofi Annan, joint special envoy for Syria of the United Nations and Arab League (AL), has a bumpy, long and winding road ahead in his task to press for a solution to Syria's yearlong crisis, amid the widening gap between the opposition and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

WIDENING GAP BETWEEN OPPOSITION AND REGIME

During his meeting on Saturday with Annan, Assad decisively stated that any political dialogue is doomed to fail "so long as there are armed groups that work to foment anarchy and destabilize the country."

The 46-year-old Britain-trained ophthalmologist made it clear that Syria is ready to make any "honest" effort a success in order to find a solution to the current crisis.

Assad's remarks clearly indicate that no negotiation would produce fruitful results while the armed guerrillas are still assaulting and undermining the state sovereignty.

The Assad government has warned that the unrest in Syria is the work of armed groups from the beginning of the unrest in March of 2011.

For the opposition, any dialogue with the government is rejected so long as the government troops are assaulting the opposition strongholds across the country, mainly in central Homs and northern Idlib provinces.

Hassan Abdul-Azim, head of the National Coordination Body for the forces of National Democratic Change, said the Syrian government was responsible for the armament of some groups in Syria, citing the government's alleged crackdown on dissents.

"Some people are obliged to arm themselves due to the continuation of violence," Abdul-Azim said after an hour-long meeting with Annan Saturday.

The crisis in Syria is "complicated and went through dangerous phases," he said, stressing that no solution could be reached in light of violence, murder, arrest and displacement.

"There should be a solution to the crisis because our people are suffering," he said, but rejected any scenario of military intervention in Syria.

OPPOSITION PRESSES FOR EXTREME MEASURES

The Turkish-based Syrian National Council (SNC) has even went more extreme and upped its ante recently, calling on the international community to impose humanitarian corridors in Syria by rendering military aid to the Free Syrian Army, an anti-Assad militia comprising partly of army defectors.

Burhan Ghalioun, chairman of the SNC, has rejected the call by Annan to solve the Syrian crisis peacefully through dialogues. The Paris-based opponent deemed Annan's stance as "disappointing" at a time when Syrians were being "massacred every day."

Ghalioun noted that there can be no political solution unless it is "accompanied by military pressure on the regime." He told the Saudi-based al-Arabiya satellite television channel that the SNC is receiving funds and arms from "Arab and non-Arab countries" and that it seeks "quality weapons" to defeat the regime.

In February, the SNC established a military council with the aim of uniting the military distribution to rebels in Syria.

FISSURE IN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Since the eruption of the anti-government protests in Syria, the international community has shown different attitudes toward the crisis.

The United States and its Western allies have shown adamant stances against Assad's government and explicitly called on Assad to renounce power.

Some Syrian analysts said that the West aim to force a "regime change" in Syria by lobbying support from Arab countries and expressing their support to the armed rebels and broad-based opposition, even without pushing the two sides to accept negotiations with the Syrian government.

However, Russia has made it clear that it will not pass any resolution that allows military intervention or offers support to the rebel forces in Syria.

Russia and China, which have vetoed two UN resolutions on Syria, stressed that imposing a regime change would further complicate the situation and might lead to a Libya-style scenario, where tens of thousands of people were killed by the NATO's firepower.

The two countries rejected the "unbalanced" approaches by the West in dealing with the Syrian crisis, stressing that the halt of violence should be from both sides.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that Annan's priority is to immediately halt all fighting by government forces and opposition fighters.

After meeting Sunday with Syria's Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun, Annan said that he is hopeful that Syria would remain secure and he hopes to help in achieving everything that might lead to reforms and maintain the respect of human rights in Syria.

He said his mission aims to discuss steps that could help end violence, create an access for humanitarian aids to some areas in Syria, and start a political dialogue in the country.

"I hope we would work together to devote the feelings of tolerance, justice and heal injuries," Annan said.

He said he had met the Syrian president, some opposition activists and businessmen, and found that all of them want a " solution and to heal wounds," stressing that the Syrians are capable of solving the problems by themselves.