UN chief meets with international envoy for Syria

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon on Monday met with the joint special representative of the UN and the Arab League for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters here. Brahimi, who replaced the former UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, in September of last year to push for an early end to the longstanding Syrian crisis, "will also brief the Security Council on Jan. 29," the spokesman said at a daily briefing. After meeting with the UN chief on Monday, Brahimi, the former Algerian foreign minister, "will have a joint phone call with Nabil Elaraby, the secretary-general of the League of Arab States, " Nesirky added. The Syrian crisis, which broke out in March 2011, has reportedly left 60,000 people dead and recently seems to be drifting further away from a political solution between the armed opposition and the government of President Bashar al-Assad. President al-Assad outlined, in a speech earlier this month, his vision for a political solution to the conflict, which includes a ceasefire, a comprehensive national dialogue, and the establishment of a broad-based new government and parliament. However, it was rejected by the opposition forces in the war- torn country, who insisted that the president must step down from office.