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Brahimi to make plan on Syria after meeting all concerned parties

Arab World Materials 16 September 2012 03:58 (UTC +04:00)
Visiting UN-Arab League special representative Lakhdar Brahimi said here on Saturday that he has not come to a plan to end Syria's crisis yet, adding that the plan would be made after he has met with all concerned parties and countries, Xinhua reported.
Brahimi to make plan on Syria after meeting all concerned parties

Visiting UN-Arab League special representative Lakhdar Brahimi said here on Saturday that he has not come to a plan to end Syria's crisis yet, adding that the plan would be made after he has met with all concerned parties and countries, Xinhua reported.

Brahimi's remarks were made after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"There is no plan for the time being, we will build a plan after we meet with all parties and I hope the plan would be workable for the salvation of Syria," said Brahimi.

He said that he will be visiting all the countries that have interests in Syria, adding that he will come back soon to Syria to continue "talks and work."

"We talked and I think President Assad realized more than I did the dimensions of the crisis and its gravity," he said.

Brahimi repeated his statement that the "Syrian crisis is very dangerous and it's exacerbating and poses a danger on the Syrian people, the region and the world."

He said he had told Assad that he will bring forward all the thoughts and the possibilities to help the Syrian people out of the current ordeal.

Brahimi arrived in Syria Thursday for a three-day visit to meet with officials for the Syrian administration and the opposition alike.

On Friday, Brahimi met with a number of Damascus-based Syrian opposition. He is expected to have met other opponents Saturday.

Hasan Abdul-Azim, head of the oppositional National Coordination Body (NCB), said Friday that Brahimi can not be a repetition or a copy of his predecessor Kofi Annan.

"He cannot be a repetition or a copy of Kofi Annan's plan," Abdul-Azim said, adding that Brahimi should have qualitative additions and efforts.

He said Brahimi has "a big convincing power especially that he is from the region... he also has regional and international influence."

On Thursday, Brahimi met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem, during which al-Moallem pledged "full cooperation" with the new representative's mission.

Moallem cautioned, however, that success would depend on the stances of countries that he said were "arming, financing and training armed terrorist groups."

Brahimi is tasked with brokering a diplomatic solution to the conflict after replacing former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who stepped down as the UN-Arab League joint special envoy in August in frustration after his six-point peace plan went up in smoke due to incessant violence.

Speaking of violence, urban battles continued in several hotspots across Syria on Saturday amid reports that the clashes have intensified in the northern Syria's Aleppo province.

The state-run SANA news agency said the Syrian forces on Saturday destroyed a pick-up truck equipped with DShK machine- guns in al-Midan area in Aleppo and killed three "terrorists who were inside it."

The Syrian troops have also eliminated groups of armed insurgents who had been stationing at the Cultural Center, Religious Education School, the Police Station and Polyclinics at Daret Izzeh in Aleppo countryside, according to SANA.

In the capital Damascus, army units on Saturday carried out a " qualitative" operation and eliminated a group of most wanted " terrorists" in al-Sbeineh area in Damascus countryside, said SANA.

A military source told SANA that during the chasing down of the "armed terrorist groups" in the area, 17 burned bodies of " terrorists" were found in al-Sharakesah neighborhood in al-Sbeineh.

On the opposition side, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the towns and villages of Ma'arat al-Arteeq, Kafarhamra, Ratyan, Byanun, and Jubreen in Aleppo province were under bombardment by the government forces on Saturday.

The Observatory said the Damascus' district of Hajar al-Aswad witnessed intense clashes on Saturday, in which seven people, including a child, and six armed rebels were killed by gunfire and clashes.

It also said the A'sali neighborhood in Damascus was bombarded by the government forces, adding that there is no news about casualties yet.

The Observatory placed the death toll of Saturday's casualties nationwide at 50 so far.

Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees, another activists ' network, said 70 people were been killed on Saturday across Syria, reporting shelling by government troops on a number of areas nationwide, including Jdaidet Artouz and al-Esali in the suburbs of Damascus.

The activists' claim could not be checked independently.

Such violence puts more pressure on Brahimi who is burdened by the task of figuring out a solution to pull Syria out of the bloody quagmire.

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