Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warns of 'staggering' crisis

UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi: "The death toll is staggering"

The new UN and Arab League envoy for Syria has said the death toll in the conflict is "staggering" and the destruction "catastrophic".

Speaking to the UN General Assembly in his first formal speech since assuming the role, Lakhdar Brahimi called for unity in addressing the crisis.
He said he would travel to Syria in the next few days and needed UN support.
Syria's UN ambassador said Damascus was ready to co-operate with Mr Brahimi's mission.
In his brief statement, Mr Brahimi told the assembly in New York that the situation in Syria was deteriorating, and that "the suffering of the people is immense".
He said the future of Syria would be "built by its people and none other", and that "the support of the international community is indispensable and very urgent".

Lakhdar Brahimi

• Aged 78 and an experienced operator in the Arab and Islamic worlds
• Acted as Arab League envoy during Lebanese civil war in 1989, brokering an end to the conflict
• Has represented the UN in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, South Africa, DR Congo, Yemen, Liberia, Nigeria and Sudan
• Is a member of The Elders, a group of world leaders founded in 2007 by Nelson Mandela to promote peace and human rights

"It will only be effective if all pull in the same direction," he said.

Mr Brahimi was appointed last month, after his predecessor, Kofi Annan, resigned following the failure of his peace plan.
The UN's Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said his mission was "daunting, but not insurmountable" and called for "a unity of effort that will have an impact on the ground".
He told the assembly the conflict had "taken a particularly brutal turn" and that the increasing militarisation was "deeply tragic and highly dangerous".
But UN efforts to relieve the growing humanitarian crisis were being hampered by a lack of funding, with a $180bn (£113bn) plan only half funded, he said.
Mr Ban accused countries who sent arms to Syria of spreading misery. He did not name any country, but Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main arms supplier.