Finding a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict is "nearly impossible", Lakhdar Brahimi, the man given the job of trying to do it has admitted.
No hope: Lakhdar Brahimi gave a pessimistic view of the situation in Syria Photo: AP
By Richard Spencer
11:02AM BST 03 Sep 2012
Lakhdar Brahimi, the new envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League to Syria, gave a pessimistic view of the situation in Syria, where at least 25,000 people have already died in 18 months of revolution. He also said there was not much he could do about it.
"I know how difficult it is – how nearly impossible. I can't say impossible – nearly impossible," Mr Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister appointed to replace Kofi Annan this month, said in an interview with the BBC.
Although few would disagree with Mr Brahimi's assessment, his sense of hopelessness will raise new questions about the choice of peace envoy. Algeria has historically been one of Syria's closest allies, and he has little trust from the opposition, particularly after he refused to agree to the Arab League's own position that President Bashar al-Assad needed to step down for a solution to work.
He said he had taken the job on out of a sense of duty but with little expectation of being able to achieve anything that Mr Annan, with whom he had discussed the situation throughout, had not achieved. Mr Annan had ended up facing a brick wall, he said. "I'm standing in front of that same wall," he said.
"I don't see a crack." He said he was "scared" of the task ahead.
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"People are already saying people are dying, what are you doing?" he said. "Indeed, we are not doing much. That in itself is a terrible weight."
With the regime unable so far to push the rebels out of Aleppo or fully secure its own capital Damascus, and fighting on multiple fronts across the country, the rebels feel no need to step back from their basic demand for Mr Assad to go as a precursor to any negotiations. The regime has ruled that out, as have its external backers in Iran and Russia.
On the other hand, there is little sign of any external action that might accelerate a military victory for either side. A Turkish proposal for a "safe zone" for refugees in the north of the country, which could become a secure base for the rebels, fell on deaf ears at the United Nations security council last week.
The Washington Post on Monday quoted senior US officials as saying a safe zone would require a no-fly zone and the taking out of Syrian air defences – something they described as a "very slippery slope".
"We could get dragged into this, no question, but we’re just not there yet," one said. The conflict appeared to be settling into a long war of attrition, they said.
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