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September 14, 2012

New Envoy Arrives in Syria Amid Fresh Attacks 
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In news from Syria, U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in
the capital of Damascus Thursday as government forces attacked the
outskirts of the capital in a bid to root out rebel forces. Opposition
activists said helicopter gunships were firing on suburban areas. During
his visit Brahimi is expected to meet with Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad as well as with rebels opposed to the Assad regime. Brahimi has
replaced Kofi Annan, who resigned his negotiating role in Syria the end
of last month amid a diplomatic standoff over a conflict that has killed
more than 20,000 people in the past 18 months. Speaking Thursday,
Brahimi’s spokesperson stressed the difficulty of the mission.

Ahmad Fawzi: "The mission is really daunting and Mr Brahimi said it as
Kofi Annan had said it before. We said it before and we say it again
that there are countries with influence and others with interests and we
implore those influential countries that have clout over the parties to
use their influence to curb the bleeding and and this first mission is
of extreme seriousness; ending the bloodshed then moving toward a
political phase for negotiation on how to end this crisis."