Brahimis reprehensible abuse of his official remit as a neutral broker for the Geneva conference about Syria The private message that UN-Arab League special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi brought to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggests the Algerian career diplomat is acting more as an interlocutor for Washington’s nefarious political agenda, rather than as an honest peace broker. “According to Iranian sources, Brahimi - on behalf of the United States and other countries- proposed that [Syrian President] Assad only be a figurehead in a transitional government, with full power going to opposition parties.” Brahimi also emphasized to Iranian officials that Geneva II “might be the only chance to end the bloody conflict” and he called on “Iran to exert pressure on the Syrian regime to show a genuine willingness to change its attitude”. The Iranian officials reportedly gave Brahimi’s proposals short shrift, stating that President Bashar al-Assad must be part of any Syrian-led political solution and that no resolution would be found with the ongoing presence of foreign-backed militants. Brahimi later found himself in hot water when he was quoted by several French and Arab media outlets as saying, “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could help in the transition phase towards a new Syria, without leading it himself.” When the envoy arrived in Damascus on Tuesday, he claimed that his views on Assad playing a transitional role were “misquoted”. And in a meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, Brahimi appeared to defer to the Damascus government’s position that any dialogue at Geneva II must be “between Syrians, led by Syrians.” The Syrian government said that it was willing to participate in the proposed conference “on the basis that it is the Syrian people’s exclusive right to choose its leadership and political future.” Damascus denounced the recent London statement made by Western powers and the foreign exile group, the so-called Syrian National Coalition. In neocolonial style, that statement calls for the removal of President Assad, and in effect pre-empts the outcome of dialogue before it has even begun. In any case, the important point here is that Brahimi was carrying a specific and underhand political message to Iran. That message was for Tehran to toe the Washington line on Syria, by “exerting pressure” on its ally in Damascus to capitulate to the Western objective of regime change. This functioning by Brahimi as a conduit for Washington is a reprehensible abuse of his official remit as a neutral broker. But the attempt by Brahimi to induce Iran into an American line on Syria also throws new light on the parallel diplomatic rapprochement between Washington and Tehran over the long-running nuclear dispute. It seems too much of a mere coincidence that just as Washington and its Western allies, Britain and France, have belatedly engaged in a political track over Syria - having recognized that their covert military tactic has become exhausted - that these same powers have ostensibly embraced a diplomatic thawing with Iran. presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/30/332128/us-trying-to-play-iran-off-syria/
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 04:09:53 +0000