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                           UN Envoy Meets With Assad

   by VOA News

   The new U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, met with
   Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Saturday in Damascus as he continues
   his first official visit to the war-torn country.
   Syrian state media gave no details of the meeting, which comes 18
   months into Syria's deadly conflict.  Brahimi replaced former U.N.
   secretary-general Kofi Annan two weeks ago as the international peace
   envoy to Syria.
   On Friday, a U.N. spokesman said Brahimi met with various Syrian
   officials, U.N. staff, Red Cross officers and envoys from Russia and
   China.  Brahimi is also set to meet with a Syrian opposition group and
   a European Union delegation.
   After arriving in Syria Thursday, Brahimi said the situation is getting
   worse, and he described efforts to ease the crisis as "nearly
   impossible."
   Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized China
   and Russia during an international conference in the Ukrainian city of
   Yalta.  He said both countries must continue to push Syria toward
   meaningful negotiations.
   The U.N. Security Council is deadlocked over Syria.  China and Russia
   have vetoed efforts to impose tough new sanctions against the Assad
   government.
   The United States does not want any military involvement in Syria, and
   there has been almost no progress in uniting the fragmented opposition
   to form a viable alternative to Mr. Assad.
   Eighteen months of fighting between government forces and rebels has
   killed about 20,000 people, mostly civilians.  U.N. officials say the
   war has driven more than one million people from their homes.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/un-envoy-meets-with-assad/1508543.htm
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-envoy-meets-with-assad/1508543.html