UN/FILE: Annan quits role as special envoy for Syria

Record ID: 281242

  • Title: UN/FILE: Annan quits role as special envoy for Syria
  • Date: 2nd August 2012
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (FILE - JULY 20, 2012) (REUTERS) U.N. FLAG OUTSIDE A U.N. BUILDING IN GENEVA UNSMIS CHIEF MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT MOOD ENTERING THE OFFICE, SHAKING HANDS WITH KOFI ANNAN, FOLLOWED THEN FOLLOWED BY ANNAN'S DEPUTY JEAN-MARIE GUEHENNO SITTING NEXT TO MOOD ANNAN AND MOOD SITTING NEXT TO EACH OTHER
  • Embargoed: 17th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Reuters ID: LVA3Q0KXXTIQ8A9Y5X2HRCLKCYAA
  • Story Text: Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is stepping down as the U.N.-Arab League mediator in the 17-month-old Syria conflict at the end of the month, the United Nations said on Thursday (August 2), the latest sign that the outlook for a diplomatic solution is bleak.
    "Mr. Annan has informed me, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Mr. Nabil Elaraby, of his intention not to renew his mandate when it expires on 31 August 2012," Ban said in a written statement, adding that he and Elaraby were in discussions on appointing a successor to Annan.
    "Kofi Annan deserves our profound admiration for the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to this most difficult and potentially thankless of assignments," Ban added.
    Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was quick to react, suggesting to reporters outside the Security Council at the United Nations in New York that Moscow was disappointed that Annan was bowing out.
    "We understand that it's his decision," Churkin told reporters. "We regret that he chose to do so. We have supported very strongly Kofi Annan's efforts. He has another month to go, and I hope this month is going to be used as effectively as possible under these very difficult circumstances."
    Churkin added he was encouraged that Ban was looking for a successor to Annan.
    Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Annan cited "finger-pointing and name-calling" in the 15-nation Security Council as one of the reasons for his decision to step down.
    Council diplomats have said privately that the United States and Gulf Arab states have become increasingly frustrated in recent weeks with what they saw as Annan's dogged commitment to diplomacy at a time when they believe all avenues for dialogue with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have been exhausted.
    Western diplomats, however, blame Russia and China for vetoing three council resolutions intended to ratchet up the pressure on Assad to stop his attacks on civilians and halt the fighting, which has escalated into a full-scale civil war.
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