SYRIA: International envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi arrives in Damascus for talks with government and opposition representatives on ways of ending near 18 months of violence in Syria

Record ID: 281338

  • Title: SYRIA: International envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi arrives in Damascus for talks with government and opposition representatives on ways of ending near 18 months of violence in Syria
  • Date: 14th September 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (SEPTEMBER 13, 2012) (REUTERS) **FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** EXTERIOR OF DAMA ROSE HOTEL CONVOY ARRIVING CAMERAMAN FILMING INTERIOR OF HOTEL LOBBY BRAHIMI AND MIQDAD IN HOTEL BRAHIMI ENTERING ELEVATOR
  • Embargoed: 29th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8WQT9094FOA7XGMGFHHGMOMU0
  • Story Text: U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Syria on Thursday (September 13) in his first trip to the country since taking up his post.
    Brahimi, a veteran Algerian diplomat who replaced former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the international mediator on September 1, will meet Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Thursday and is due to meet President Bashar al-Assad for talks aimed at addressing the conflict.

    "There is a crisis, nobody can deny this. I think the crisis is increasing and I think that everybody agrees on the need to end the bloodshed and re-establishing agreement between the citizens. I hope we can contribute in this during the next days and weeks", Brahimi said on his arrival at Damascus International Airport.
    A statement issued by Brahimi's office said that he will also meet Syrian opposition and members of the civil society.
    Brahimi is accompanied by Mokhtar Lamani, who will remain in Damascus to assume his new functions as Head of the Office of the Joint Special Representative for Syria in Damascus.
    On Tuesday (September 11) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his call for the Security Council to take action on Syria and for world powers to use their influence over the two warring sides to halt the 17 months of violence in which more than 20,000 have been killed.
    The uprising has polarised global powers, preventing effective international intervention, and is turning increasingly sectarian with the risk of it spilling over into adjacent Arab states with similar communal divisions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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