UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi apologises to Syrian people as he steps down
UN mediator, who will step down on May 31, apologises to the Syrian people for failing to broker peace in bloody three-year civil war
Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, who is stepping down on May 31, has apologised to the Syrian people for failing to broker peace in the three-year civil war.
Brahimi had long threatened to quit, just as his predecessor - former UN secretary general Kofi Annan - did in 2012.
Brahimi, a veteran Algerian diplomat, briefed the 15-member Security Council for the final time on Tuesday.
"I go with a heavy heart because so little was achieved," he told the closed-door session of the council. "I once again, humbly apologise to the Syrian people."
International and regional powers have backed opposing sides in the civil war that has so far killed at least 150,000 people, with Russia and Iran supporting President Bashar al-Assad and Western powers and Gulf Arab states largely backing the rebels.
Brahimi left "a few ideas" with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council - focus on getting more aid into Syria, reduce and end the violence, end the flow of arms into Syria and help form an executive to lead Syria's transition by organising a national dialogue, conference, constitutional review and elections.