UN envoy: Security Council must act to end Syria war

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United Nations peace envoy to Syria said the Security Council must act to end the country's civil war because Syrians could not stop the violence on their own, a newspaper reported on Thursday, January 31, according to Reuters.

More than 60,000 people have died and 700,000 have fled the country in the 22-month-old conflict but the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have been deadlocked on how to negotiate an end to the war.

Lakhdar Brahimi, appointed as mediator in August, said it had become clear the Syrian parties in the conflict were not going to resolve it on their own.

"Now we are speaking with the Security Council, and I told them honestly that the brothers in Syria are unable to talk and resolve their problems themselves," he told the Arabic-language daily newspaper daily al-Hayat.

"There is no other arena now to deal with this issue and seek the salvation of Syria except through the Security Council."

The newspaper said Brahimi has presented six points to the Security Council for a resolution, including adopting a "principle of dialogue" among Syrians, but did not take a ceasefire as a starting point.

"The fighter will not agree to stop fighting unless he knows where he is headed. People want to know where they are headed," he said, declining to go into details about what he presented.

On Tuesday, Brahimi warned the Security Council that Syria is "breaking up before everyone's eyes," diplomats told Reuters.