Brahimi deserves support from all

The civil war in Syria is still continuing, as neither side is capable of managing a substantial victory. In this desperate situation, hundreds of thousands of civilians have had to flee their homes to a very uncertain future in refugee camps and the country is gradually sinking into chaos.

This is why the UN mission of international mediator and Arab League Special Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, is so important. He took over two weeks ago from Kofi Annan, who gave up in disgust at the failure of the Syrian government to stick to its promises. However, it is still important to try and seek a peaceful end to this seemingly intractable dispute.

Brahimi has said that his mission is “nearly impossible” and after his first meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad last Saturday, Brahimi added that the “crisis is deteriorating and represents a danger to the Syrian people, to the region and to the whole world”. More than 27,000 people have been killed in the 18 months of fighting. Sitting for just one hour with Al Assad is not going to solve the problem, so Brahimi needs to develop a more concrete set of proposals than what exists at present. The key to success will be to convince Al Assad to step down and this will not be easy. Al Assad seems sure that he can continue to keep his regime in place by killing people and until he has some inkling that he will be forced out, he will not want to go voluntarily.

The rebels will need to improve their incoherent political offering to the people and that will have to include a place for members of the Alawite sect, who have dominated the present regime, and other officers and government officials. It will be hard to persuade both government and rebel figures to agree that they will have to work together, but that is the task Brahimi has taken on. He deserves all the support that anyone can give him.