Special Envoy to Syria Counting on Geneva Plan to End Conflict - East Idaho News
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Special Envoy to Syria Counting on Geneva Plan to End Conflict

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GETTY W 082012 NewUNEnvoy?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1356946789935ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) — The United Nations-Arab League special envoy put in charge of helping to bring an end to the 21-month conflict in Syria made a somewhat cryptic remark Sunday about having a proposal that could achieve his goal.

Following a meeting with Arab League officials in Cairo, Lakhdar Brahimi said that this plan “could be adopted by the international community.”  It is apparently based on an agreement that was approved by world diplomats in Geneva in early 2012.

While Brahimi did not elaborate beyond that, the Geneva plan as previously stated includes a ceasefire, the creation of a transitional government and free elections.

However, it does not specify what will happen to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who remains adamant about remaining in power and has vowed to crush an opposition he calls “the terrorists.”

So far, the fighting has cost 45,000 lives and already forced more than half a million people to flee Syria, with potentially 500,000 more becoming refugees in 2013, especially if Damascus is drawn further into the conflict.

According to Brahimi, the fighting is “getting worse by the day.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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