United Nations and Arab League peace envoy in Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, arrived in the capital Damascus on Thursday, in his
first visit to the conflict-torn country since he took up the post in the beginning of September.
Brahimi is expected to meet Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid Al-Moualem, today, according to Reuters, which also cited his spokesperson stating that Brahimi will meet “Syrian opposition and civil society.”. The envoy scheduled a meeting with Bashar Al-Assad on Friday, according to the Associated Press.
“We are confident that Mr. Brahimi understands the developments and the way to solve problems despite all the complications.” Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, said to AP, wishing him luck in his mission; a mission which Brahimi had described to BBC news as “nearly impossible”.”It is a crisis which is deteriorating, and no one disagrees with the need to stop the bloodshed and restore harmony” Reuters quoted Brahimi saying upon his arrival.
Brahimi came from Cairo where he held several top diplomatic meetings on Syria. In the meantime, a group of six Syrian women held a hunger strike outside the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, calling for a no-fly zone over Syria, a tactic used in Libya in 2011.
Brahimi replaced Kofi Annan, who resigned in August following the repeated failure of his six-point peace plan which tried to secure a ceasefire.
