UN’s New Syria Envoy Condemned by Both Sides

Lakhdar Brahimi Satisfies No One as War Rages

With Syria’s government determined to rout the rebels militarily, the rebels determined to conquer the nation through sheer strength of arms, and a good chunk of the international community openly backing, the job of UN Special Envoy to Syria, charged with trying to end the fighting, is one of the toughest jobs imaginable.

Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan couldn’t do it, and after the rebels repudiated a ceasefire he negotiated, he resigned in failure. His replacement hasn’t started the job yet, but has been named as Lakhdar Brahimi, a long time Algerian diplomat.

And he’s already being condemned by both sides. Brahimi stated the obvious in a television interview with France 24, saying that “what we need to do is to stop the civil war and that is not going to be easy.”

The regime is furious at him for terming the civil war a “civil war,” insisting that there is too much foreign meddling to call it that. The rebel Syrian National Council also condemned him, saying his comments disregard the “right of self-determination.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.