The U.N.-Arab League mediator in the Syria conflict, Lakhdar Brahimi, has agreed to remain despite his frustration with the international deadlock that has prevented U.N. action to stop the two-year-old civil war, the United Nations said Thursday. Brahimi repeatedly has threatened to quit, and the envoy recently told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council members he wanted to leave the job, though many tried to persuade him to remain, diplomats said. The dispute over Syria between Russia, which supports and provides weapons to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and Western powers led by the United States, which says al-Assad must quit and supports the rebels, has left the U.N. Security Council paralyzed. But this week, Russia and the United States agreed to seek new peace talks that would bring together al-Assad's government and the opposition in an effort to seek a diplomatic resolution of the civil war. The United Nations said such a development was long overdue. “We were waiting for it for a long time, pushed very hard for a negotiated transition," U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told reporters at U.N. headquarters. “We doubt whether a military victory is possible, particularly within the near future," Eliasson said. “An explosion of revenge could lead to an even worse situation. So this [U.S.-Russian initiative] is welcome. This is good news."
