British Foreign Secretary William Hague asks Syrian president to step down….

British envoy hopes Turkey will tell Syrian leader to introduce reforms or step down.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must implement reforms in his country or step aside, as the embattled leader prepared to make a major speech.

 Hague, on arrival at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, said he hoped Turkey would use its influence on Damascus to tell the regime that "they are losing legitimacy, that Assad should reform or step aside."

 He added that he hoped Turkey "will be very clear and very bold about that" with the Syrian authorities.

The British chief diplomat said that "there are crucial developments in Syria" and that London was awaiting a speech that Assad was to deliver later Monday.