Hot! Arab League Syria Envoy Annan Has Near - Impossible Job Reuters

By Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS Fri Feb 24, 2012 4:54pm EST

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N.- Arab League envoy to the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan, brings world-wide stature as well as experience with struggle resolution to be able to his / her new job, but preventing a long in addition to bloody municipal war that may further destabilize that Middle East is likely to be impossible.

Annan, U.N. secretary-general from 1997 through 2006, seemed to be hired through his or her successor Ban Ki-moon along with Arab League leader Nabil Elaraby on Thursday following on from the U.N. General Assembly a week ago required naming a strong envoy that will push a good Arab tranquility prepare that will requests Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to phase aside.

University with Notre Dame tutor George Lopez mentioned the collection of the actual Ghanian statesman in the different principal candidate, previous Finnish President plus fellow Nobel Peace Prize success Martti Ahtisaari, appeared to be "a strong choice."

"Mr Assad had been visited by higher amount diplomats - dangerous ministers involving Turkey in addition to Russia, intended for example, and also Arab League officials along with he's been recently unresponsive," he said. "It will be considerable that Kofi can be a level greater who can - all of which will - glimpse Assad from the eyesight and also connect quite a few simple fact to be able to Assad's power."

Annan has no vested attention with either side in the conflict, he / she said, turning it into difficult proper to maintain he has an plan other than locking down a great ending to be able to Syria's 11-month crackdown upon anti-Assad demonstrators containing mortally wounded countless civilians and delivered the country towards brink connected with municipal war.

In Stanley Meisler's two thousand and seven biography with Annan, the only a blueprint in order to Assad and Annan conversing is really a 2002 cellular phone call in which the U.N. chief urged Assad for you to vote just a Security Council resolution on the go back connected with U.N. weapons inspectors that will Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Assad, a robust ally associated with Saddam, fallen their arguments as well as become a member the opposite fourteen local authority or council associates that will vote for your resolution.

During his moment at the helm regarding your United Nations, Annan effectively mediated a variety of conflicts, which include Nigeria's line argument with Cameroon about manipulate belonging to the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula. Annan convinced Nigeria for you to recognize a World Court lording it over that gave it for you to Cameroon.

After causing the globe body, Annan served work out an stop for you to violence in Kenya this harmed 1,220 persons following your African nation's December 2007 election.

But the escalating conflict throughout Syria, which the United Nations claims offers wiped out above 5,400 civilians, will confirm a lot more tough as compared with Kenya or perhaps the particular Nigeria-Cameroon dispute.

FACES MAJOR HURDLES

Western diplomats express this United States and Europe been seen in for you to like Ahtisaari, exactly who oversaw talks about Serbia's previous province involving Kosovo, that seceded inside 2008. But they will extra that Western capitals had no problem with all the range of Annan.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner described Annan as an "outstanding choice." U.N. spokesman Eduardo del Buey reported Annan was picked pertaining to "the huge respect whereby he has used inside the global community, along with his or her impeccable knowledge" on the region.

One of the chief political difficulties Annan must encounter is a deadlocked U.N. Security Council. Russia as well as China 2 times joined causes in a very twice veto of resolutions condemning the particular Syrian crackdown in addition to calling pertaining to an conclusion to the fighting.

It remains unclear whether Annan might convince Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, widely anticipated to come back to this obama administration right after elections future month, to avoid shielding Assad, to whom Moscow recognizes being a major ally in a state that owners Russia's just warm-water naval port outside the house the actual an old Soviet Union.