BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said over the weekend that change in Syria was around the corner and that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future in power would soon end.

“Change is imminent in Syria. Don't let those propaganda drums fool you, he [Assad] is finished you’ll see,” Hariri said in a post on the popular micro-blogging website Twitter.

Hariri’s comments came in response to a question during one of his frequent live Twitter Q&A sessions on whether the former prime minister was still convinced change would take place in Lebanon’s neighbor, Syria.

The United Nations estimates over 5,000 Syrians, mostly civilians, have been killed in crackdown by Damascus aimed at ending anti-government protests which have gripped the Arab state since mid-March 2011.

The Arab League has sent an observer mission to monitor the implementation of an initiative to end the bloodshed in Syria. The initiative calls on Damascus to withdraw the military from the streets, the release of political prisoners, allowing journalists access to the country and launching dialogue with the Syrian opposition.

Syria denies targeting civilians, blaming “armed gangs” for their deaths.