"All points of the plan are crucial, but one is most urgent: the need for cessation of violence," Annan said. "Clearly, the violence is still continuing. Alarming levels of casualties and other abuses continue to be reported daily. Military operations in civilian populations have not stopped."
"We must silence the tanks, helicopters, mortars and guns, and stop all other forms of violence, too: sexual abuse, torture, executions, abductions, destruction of homes, forced displacement, and other such abuses, including on children," said Annan, who addressed the U.N. General Assembly by video link from Geneva.
The country has been engulfed in violence since March 2011, when the government began a crackdown on peaceful protesters, and world powers are trying to stop the bloody government crackdown
The United Nations has estimated at least 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since anti-government protests started in March of last year, while opposition activists have come up with higher figures. The opposition Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists on the ground, has documented more than 11,000 deaths.
And at least 61 people were killed across the country Thursday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
Annan's six-point plan calls for authorities to stop troop movement toward populated centers and end the use of heavy weapons. It urges a cease-fire by the government and the opposition, and a Syrian-led political process to end the crisis. It implores the government to ensure "timely provision of humanitarian assistance" and intensify "the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons." It also calls for freedom of movement for journalists and the right to demonstrate.
Syria has said it would implement the plan and Thursday said it had taken steps to comply. Opponents of the regime and outside experts have said that the government has so far taken few tangible steps to implement the Annan plan, raising questions about its viability.
One step includes initial withdrawals. Annan said the government told him about "partial withdrawals" from three locations -- Idlib, Zabadani and Daraa regions. This comes after the Syrians said Sunday it planned to withdraw military units from populated regions, an effort to be in effect until Tuesday, Annan said.
"It is clear that more far-reaching action is urgently required," Annan said.
Annan said after the government carries out this withdrawal commitment by next week, he hopes to forge a "full cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties" two days later by 6 a.m. Thursday Damascus time.
"I urge the government and opposition commanders to issue clear instructions so that the message reaches across the country, down to the fighter and soldier at the local level," Annan said.
Other Syrian moves signaled changes on Thursday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it forged an agreement with the government for "an expanded presence."
"This agreement is a sign of trust in the ICRC's independent and neutral humanitarian action," ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said. "It should enable the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to meet increased humanitarian needs."
The entities agreed on a procedure "to trigger" a pause to deliver relief to fighting-plagued regions. The ICRC supported the idea, in Annan's plan, that calls for a "daily, two-hour humanitarian pause."
In fact, activists said the army permitted the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to enter the Idlib town of Taftanaz for two hours on Thursday and collect bodies. The location had been heavily shelled for days.
Also, the government "agreed on procedures for visits" to detention centers.
"The agreement will be put into practice with an ICRC visit to people held in Aleppo Central Prison," the ICRC said.
They discussed the right of sick or injured people to get medical care and for combatants "to respect medical personnel, facilities and transports."
Annan said the government told him that 21 visas have been issued to European, Russian, American and Korean journalists since late March. He also said that "plans for release of detainees are being made and will be implemented within a few weeks of the agreement."
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