Brahimi begins ‘very difficult’ Syria mission

UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Monday began what he called a “very difficult” mission to bring peace to Syria with talks in Egypt, as he made his first official trip to the region. Brahimi, replacing former UN chief Kofi Annan who quit over divisions in the UN Security Council on the deadly violence that has gripped Syria for nearly 18 months, arrived in Cairo late on Sunday. “I realise it’s a very difficult mission, but I think it is not my right to refuse to give whatever assistance I can to the Syrian people,” Brahimi told reporters after talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi. “I am at the service of the Syrian people alone,” he said, adding: “I will go to Damascus in a few days and I will meet officials and civil society members in the capital and outside.” Asked if he would meet Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, Brahimi said: “I hope to but I don’t know.” Brahimi’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said late Sunday that the date of the envoy’s visit to Syria would be fixed once his programme of meetings is finalised. The Algerian former foreign minister also met with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and was due to hold talks with Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr later on Monday. Expectations that he will have any more success than Annan are low, however.