UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Thursday that he has appointed veteran diplomat Staffan de Mistura as the new special envoy tasked with seeking a peaceful solution of the ongoing war in Syria. De Mistura, who has served as the head of the U.N. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, will take on the peace-facilitation role previously held by Lakhdar Brahimi, who resigned in May. "The special envoy will provide good offices aimed at bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis," Ban told reporters. The U.N. chief also announced that he is appointing Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy as the deputy special envoy for Syria.
