Local Editor

Lakhdar Brahimi resigned Tuesday as the international envoy to Syria after trying for nearly two years to overcome "almost impossible odds" to end a war that has claimed more than 150,000 lives, the UN chief announced Tuesday.

Brahimi "faced almost impossible odds with the Syrian nation, Middle Eastern region and wider international community that have been hopelessly divided in their approaches to ending the conflict," Ban said. "He has persevered with great patience and skill."
Brahimi is the second envoy to quit after failing to achieve a breakthrough in the more than 3-year-old.

When Brahimi took over from his longtime friend, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he said it would be "an extremely complicated and very, very difficult mission."
He indicated Tuesday that he could see no end in the near future to the bloodshed.

"I'm sure that the crisis will end - but the question is how many more dead? How much more destruction?" Brahimi said. "It's very sad that I leave this position and leave Syria behind in such a bad state."
Brahimi managed to get government officials and opposition to two rounds of peace talks in Geneva, but they ended without an agreement.

"I regret that the parties have proven so reluctant to take advantage of that opportunity to end the country's profound misery," Ban said.
He also said: "I renew my appeal to them to show the wisdom and the sense of responsibility that could allow a way out of this nightmare."

Brahimi, 80, is a former Algerian foreign minister and longtime UN diplomat and troubleshooter in hotspots from Afghanistan to Iraq. He said he was humbled by Ban's "extremely generous words on this occasion which is not very pleasant for me."
Ban said "Mr. Brahimi has long been recognized as one of the world's most brilliant diplomats."

"That his efforts have not achieved effective support from the United Nations body that is charged with upholding peace and security, and from countries with influence on the Syrian situation, is a failure of all of us," Ban said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team