Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
The United Nations and the Arab League have appointed former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the special envoy on the nearly-one-year-old unrest in Syria.
The two bodies said in a Thursday statement that they were ‘grateful to Mr. Annan for accepting this important mission at a critical time for the people of Syria.’
Annan "will consult broadly and engage with all relevant interlocutors within and outside Syria in order to end the violence," said the statement.
A deputy envoy is soon to be named from the Arab region, according to the statement.
The Ghanaian served two terms as the UN chief from 1997 through 2006. He was called in as a mediator to end deadly unrest in Kenya in 2008.
Annan will now act under a mandate set out by a UN General Assembly resolution passed last week and the Arab League resolutions on Syria.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. The violence has claimed the lives of hundreds, reportedly including over 2,000 security forces.
Damascus blames ‘outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups’ for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
The West and the Syrian opposition, however, accuse the government of killing protesters.
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