It's really disappointing that Kofi Annan, the UN special envoy for Syria, does not want to carry on his mission when his mandate expires at the end of August. I wish to extend my gratitude and appreciation to Annan for taking up the daunting challenge of finding a peaceful settlement in Syria. Annan, who attempted to provide the country with a peace plan, has rightly determined that no one took his efforts seriously at a time when the Syrian people desperately needed action. It is a pity that the growing militarization on the ground and the absence of harmony within the UN Security Council rendered his role ineffective. Nevertheless, the carnage continues in the face of Bashar Al-Assad's stubbornness and international apathy toward the plight of the Syrian people. The country is fast sliding into a ruthless civil war. The street clashes in Aleppo are ominous. In the last 17 months, about 20,000 people lost their lives to the conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands others, who are clustering on the borders of Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. Their plight adds urgency to the need for a solution to this crisis. The UN-Arab League peace initiative was the ultimate hope in realizing a negotiated settlement to the bloody conflict. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must name a successor to Annan and draw up a plan to pull Syria back from the brink. I am pretty sure Syria can be saved from the most awful catastrophe if the international community shows the courage and headship to renounce parochial aims. The world leaders should step forward and come up with a vibrant peace formula to rescue this Arab nation from devastation.
