As a polished international troubleshooter, Kofi Annan has learnt how to suppress exasperation better than anyone else.
Kofi Annan became nothing more than a convenient shield, allowing Mr Assad and his enemies to deflect international pressure and pose as friends of peace Photo: Reuters
By David Blair
9:27PM BST 02 Aug 2012
Yet the mask slipped on Thursday when the former United Nations secretary- general laid out why he resigned as Syria peace envoy in unsparing terms.
President Bashar al-Assad's "intransigence" was mainly to blame for the country's tragedy, he said, but the Security Council's failure had also been lamentable.
"You have to understand," said Mr Annan, "as an envoy, I can't want peace more than the protagonists, more than the Security Council."
By the standards of a diplomat of Mr Annan's pedigree, these words amounted to a cry from the heart. Why did his five months of effort end in failure? In the final analysis, neither side in Syria's conflict has an interest in compromising for the sake of peace.
The rebels believe they are on the road to victory. Within Syria, they clearly have a great deal of popular support. Outside the country's borders, they benefit from a safe area in neighbouring Turkey and an increasing flow of arms from countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia – as well as the more restrained backing of America and Britain. The insurgents have duly grown stronger, to the point where they are now fighting for control of Aleppo, Syria's second city.
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As for Mr Assad, he clearly believes that any negotiated settlement would entail his departure. Sitting in his redoubt in Damascus, he decided that agreeing to the "political process" demanded in "point one" of Mr Annan's peace plan would have started the countdown to his removal.
That may well happen anyway, but Mr Assad seems to prefer to go down fighting. Alternatively, he might have succumbed to the traditional delusion of the besieged dictator and convinced himself, somehow, that victory is still possible.
Either way, Mr Annan became nothing more than a convenient shield, allowing Mr Assad and his enemies to deflect international pressure and pose as friends of peace.
But the exasperated envoy also thinks the Security Council's five permanent members were guilty.
Had they united behind his peace plan, instead of favouring either Mr Assad or the rebels, then Mr Annan believes he might have had a chance.
Instead, the big five failed to "compromise on their partial interests for the sake of the Syrian people". In Mr Annan's telling, every character in this story turns out to be a villain.
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