Damascus calls UN envoy a false, biased witness

As Lakhdar Brahimi prepares to brief the int’l body on the conflict, official paper says he won’t end the Syrians’ suffering

13 April 2013, 1:34 pm

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The UN Joint Special Representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi arrives for a meeting with Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov and US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the European headquarters of the United Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, Jan. 11 (photo credit: AP/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian state media are accusing the UN’s envoy of being a “false witness” as he prepares to brief the international body on the country’s two-year old conflict.

Al-Thawra daily said Saturday that Lakhdar Brahimi has taken sides in the conflict and his briefing “will not alleviate the suffering of Syrians.”

The UN and Arab League envoy for Syria is scheduled to address the Security Council on Thursday.

Brahimi has not been able to make progress in his mission to push forward a peace plan for Syria first presented in June at an international conference in Geneva.

He angered the Syrian government by saying in December that the four-decade rule of the Assad family had gone on “too long.”