UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan on Thursday was appointed the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis.
Annan's successor, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil ElAraby announced the appointment ahead of Friday's major international conference on Syria in Tunisia's capital.
The announcement said that as the U.N.-Arab League special envoy, Annan will work on bringing an end to "all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis."
The statement said Annan will work with parties inside and outside Syria to end the violence and the humanitarian crisis and facilitate "a peaceful Syrian-led and inclusive political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people through a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition."
A deputy for the joint special envoy will be chosen from the Arab region, they said.
Diplomats said Thursday that Ban couldn't find a high-level Arab acceptable to both sides and turned to Annan and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari as possible candidates. Both are veteran mediators — Annan in Kenya and Ahtisaari in Kosovo — and both are Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Last week, the U.N. General Assembly asked Ban to support the Arab League's efforts to promote a peaceful solution to the crisis, including through appointment of a special envoy to Syria.
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