UN envoy puts pressure on Syria

Associated Press

BEIRUT

The U.N.’s new envoy to Syria told President Bashar Assad’s regime Saturday that change is both “urgent” and “necessary” and that it must meet the “legitimate” demands of the Syrian people, words that will not win the seasoned Algerian diplomat and international trouble shooter any friends in Damascus.

On his first day on the job, Lakhdar Brahimi also called on both sides to end violence in Syria but said Assad’s government bears more responsibility than anyone else to halt the bloodshed. These remarks were seemingly intended to push the Damascus government to ease off on military operations to create a better atmosphere for his peace mission.

His comments, made in New York, came as activists said rebels captured an air-defense facility in the east of the country near the border with Iraq. Meanwhile, the battle for control of Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, intensified, with government warplanes and ground forces pounding it with bombs and mortar rounds as rebel fighters fought off troops in the narrow alleys of the city’s old quarter.

“I call on parties inside Syria to halt the fighting. Undoubtedly, this call is primarily directed to the government. More than others, it is the duty of governments, under any circumstances and anywhere, not just in Syria, to ensure security and stability for their people,” Brahimi told al-Arabiya television in an interview.