Syria

Envoy Underlines Syria’s Full Cooperation with New UN Envoy

Syrian Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari announced that his country would fully cooperate with Lakhdar Brahimi, the new UN-Arab League joint special envoy on Syria, to bring an end to the 18-month crisis in the Arab state.

“My country, Syria, agreed to the appointment of Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi as the special representative of the United Nations secretary-general,” al-Jaafari said, addressing the UN General Assembly about the crisis in his country.

“My country declared its full preparedness to cooperate with him with a view to bringing about a success of his efforts,” he said.

“I would like to emphasize that the resignation of (former UN-Arab League Envoy on Syria) Mr. Kofi Annan should not be a reason to keep away from the six-point plan adopted by the Security Council Resolution 2042,” the Syrian ambassador said.

Annan’s peace plan calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, a daily halt in fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment for the wounded, as well as talks between the government and the opposition.

Although President Bashar al-Assad’s government complied with Annan’s plan, the opposite side, mainly terrorist groups, defied the call and continued attacks on military and civilian targets, bringing the UN peace initiative on the verge of collapse.

“We call upon all the parties – Arab, regional and international – which have influence on armed groups, particularly those states which had refused to receive Kofi Annan and refused to cooperate with him, all those states whose representatives made destructive, negative statements days after Mr. Kofi Annan took over … We invite all those states to cooperate with Mr. Brahimi in implementing the six-point plan,” he added.

Brahimi, the former Algerian foreign minister and widely-respected UN official, formally replaced Kofi Annan as the international mediator on the Syrian conflict on September 1. Annan, the former UN secretary-general, announced his resignation as the special envoy for Syria in early August, conceding his failure to mediate a way out of the prolonged crisis.

Since his appointment last month, Brahimi has been closely consulting with members of the UN Security Council. He is to visit Egypt in a few days to talk with Nabil al-Araby, the secretary- general of the Arab League.

Brahimi told the General Assembly meeting that he is also looking forward to a visit to Damascus, the Syrian capital, in a few days.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria once again.

The US and its western and regional allies have long sought to topple Bashar al-Assad and his ruling system. Media reports said that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

Back to top button