Sat, August 18, 2012
DAMASCUS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The appointment of Algerian veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN special envoy to Syria is considered by some Syrian political figures and analysts as a "last-ditch attempt" to salvage the country from the quagmire of civil war.
Brahimi was announced Friday to succeed Kofi Annan, who declared his resignation earlier this month, citing incessant violence in Syria and lack of willingness by the conflicting parties to bring a peaceful end to the simmering crisis. His appointment is expected bring new hopes for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis.
Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa extended Saturday his welcome to the appointment of Brahimi. Al-Sharaa's office said in a statement that the vice president "backs Brahimi's insistence to get a united stance from the (UN) Security Council to fulfill his tough mission without impediments."
On the opposition side, Raja al-Naser, a leading opposition figure, told Xinhua that Brahimi has "many experiences due to his participation in finding solutions to a number of crisis."
He said his group, the National Coordination Body, will establish "quick liaison" with the new envoy, expressing hopes that all parties would cooperate with Brahimi in order to find a political solution that would be conducive to rein the violence.
"We hope that the regime would work this time and cooperate with the new envoy because the chances have become slim, and maybe this is the last true chance to politically end the crisis."
Naser said the political efforts of Brahimi should be coupled with working mechanisms on ground, "otherwise his efforts will be for no avail."
"His mission won't be easy," Naser said, stressing that "it should be backed by the super powers."
George Gabbour, an ex-parliamentarian, told Xinhua that appointing Brahimi is a "positive step towards hammering out a political solution to the crisis."
Gabbour said he is optimistic about Brahimi's mission because of his wide experience in such fields as well as the fact that he is an Arab and might be more able to understand the regional issues.
He called on the international community, "particularly the countries that are supporting the armed opposition inside," to truly support Brahimi's mission.
Gabbour said he is optimistic enough to say that the circumstance in Syria is ready for a political resolution. " Everybody has got tired of prolonged fighting," he said.
However, Riad Saker, a political researcher, did not share the optimism. Brahimi "will not produce any political end for the Syrian crisis and thus he will not achieve concrete results," he said.
He stressed that Brahimi's mission will meet the same fate as Annan's, which is "failure and then resignation."
"The super powers will not cooperate with Brahimi, because those powers... have sought to derail Annan's plan," he said.
Saker attributed his pessimism to "Brahimi's inner connections with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states." Brahimi "will not break out this circle," he said.
Syria has for long accused Qatar, Saudi, Qatar and Turkey of financing and aiding the armed insurgent groups in their fight against the government forces. The three countries, among some other international players, have overtly announced their backing to the armed opposition that aims to topple the leadership of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by force.
Their support has left no room for reconciliation among the conflicting parties as such attitude aims to further inflame the situation, analysts said.
Some analysts said none of those who are supporting the armed insurgency want a political settlement with the opposition and the government sitting at one table to sort out their differences internally and far from the international noses.
They said had the superpowers were honest about their desires for a peaceful solution and dialogue, the crisis in Syria could have already been solved.
The United States has recently announced more support to the armed opposition "by non-lethal means." Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have raised millions of dollars to support the rebels' Free Syrian Army.
What makes things worse is the involvement of a third party in conflict -- Islamist extremists that have been pouring into Syria from a number of countries to wage "jihad" against the regime. The extremists are focusing on establishing an Islamic emirate and they do not care much about calls for democracy or freedom, experts argued.
