Lakhdar Ibrahimi Refused the Syrian Task, sources say

A source close to Al Akhdar Al Ibrahimi, ruled out, in a phone conversation with “Echorouk”, the idea that the Algerian diplomat will accept the new task as an envoy to Syria, revealing at the same time that Ibrahimi was given the same offer that was proposed to Annan after him, but he refused; “I do not think that Ibrahimi would accept the job that was offered to him, especially since he refused it, when this task was offered to him before Annan, and after the failure of the latter, in the light of the current international situation and the opposition, and the various data that does not show the existence of any intention to find a solution, while innocent civilians pay the price every day. “

Since the spread of news about proposing Al Akhdar Ibrahimi as successor to Kofi Annan, reactions of the international community and the Syrian opposition varied, as some of them praised the efforts of the man and his reputation and sold him in international diplomacy, citing the heavy tasks and thorny issues in the world, and some others appealed the rejection of the task which noticed the failure of ‭Annan, citing the positions of Russia and China, ‭which blocked the ‭veto ‭of change at the Security Council. ‬

Al Akhdar Ibrahimi had retired from the UN organization since 2005, but that did not stop him from accepting some of the tasks in interim for the UN, and most notably he was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to oversee the international investigation on the bombing that targeted the headquarters of the UN High Commissioner for refugees in Algeria, on 11 December 2007, and during the last five years, his activities were limited in the membership of the international “Committee of Wise Men”, which deals with addressing the tensions and conflicts across the world, and which includes among its members, leader of South Africa ‭Nelson ‭Mandela, ‭and the former U.S. President ‭Jimmy ‭Carter, ‭as the late Algerian President ‭Ben Bella was also one of its members‭. ‬

Previously, the Committee had issued a statement quoting Al Akhdar Ibrahimi, as he called on Member States in the Security Council to “Agree upon a unified position regarding the Syrian crisis.” But the statement did not refer explicitly to the nomination of Ibrahimi to succeed Annan, as the statement said; “millions of Syrians want peace, and world leaders can not to remain divided for a longer period, ignoring their calls. Syrians should come together as one nation in order to reach a new compromise formula. This is The only way to ensure that all the Syrians will live together in peace, in a society which is not based on fear and revenge, but on tolerance “‭. ‬