Top U.N. Mediator in Syria Conflict Resigns
Source: New York Times
UNITED NATIONS — Lakhdar Brahimi, the veteran United Nations mediator tapped to help broker a political settlement in Syria, resigned on Tuesday, signaling the bleak prospects for peace in a conflict that has gone on for more than three years and claimed more than 150,000 lives.
“I have decided to accept the request of Lakhdar Brahimi to relinquish his duties,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at a news briefing at the United Nations, with Mr. Brahimi standing beside him. Mr. Ban said the resignation was effective at the end of May.
There is no agreement on who might succeed Mr. Brahimi, nor how a successor might proceed. Diplomats are debating whether it would help to install another high profile figure, or choose someone less known.
Several diplomats have said a breakthrough on Syria will come only if Iran, the Assad government’s most important backer in the Middle East, can be persuaded to cooperate on a political settlement.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/world/middleeast/Brahimi-Syria-civil-war.html?_r=0
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