Syria solution in 2013 urgent, UN envoy

GlobalPost

UN Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, warned 100,000 could die next year if a solution is not found to Syria's 21-month civil war that has already killed over 40,000 people, according to Reuters

Brahimi, recently black from talks with Russia, spoke to reporters in Cairo.

More from GlobalPost: UN envoy says it's 'hell or a political process' for Syria

"I say that the solution must be this year: 2013, and, God willing, before the second anniversary of this crisis" in March 2013, Lakhdar Brahimi said at a news conference at the Arab League.

He added, "A solution is still possible but is getting more complicated every day. We have a proposal and I believe this proposal is adopted by the international community."

The proposal Brahimi referenced is a peace plan approved in Geneva in June that calls for a ceasefire, new elections and transitional government that will help draft new constitution. It's unclear on the point of President Bashar al Assad's fate. 

Brahimi also warned the Syrian crisis could divide the already war-torn country into seperate states, "like what happened in Yugoslavia," he said, but adding the coutnry would then deteriorate further.

He said Syria would then face "Somalization, which means warlords, and the Syrian people will be persecuted by those who control their fate."

As Haaretz news points out, Somalia hasn't had a stable central government since its 1991 civil war.

"People are talking about Syria being split into a number of small states ... this is not what will happen, what will happen is Somalization: war lords," Brahimi said.

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