Lakhdar Brahimi Syrian peace plan

The Lakhdar Brahimi peace plan for Syria refers to the joint UN-Arab League peace mission, headed by Lakhdar Brahimi in order to resolve the Syria Crisis. On 17 August 2012, Brahimi was appointed by the United Nations as the new peace envoy to Syria, replacing Kofi Annan, who had previously resigned, following the collapse of his cease fire attempt.

Background
The Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria or the Six-point peace plan for Syria, launched in February 2012, is considered the most serious international attempt to resolve the Syrian civil war in the Middle East diplomatically. The peace plan enforced a cease-fire to take place across Syria since 10 April 2012, though in reality the cease-fire was announced by the Syrian government on 14 April.

Following the Houla massacre and the consequent Free Syrian Army (FSA) ultimatum to the Syrian government, the cease-fire practically collapsed towards the end of May 2012, as the FSA began nation-wide offensives against the government troops. On 1 June, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed to crush the anti-regime uprising, after the FSA announced that it was resuming “defensive operations.” Following a prolonging discourse of the peace mission, Kofi Annan resigned on 2 August 2012. On 17 August, Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed the new UN-Arab League peace envoy for Syria.

Appointment
On 17 August 2012, Brahimi was appointed by the United Nations as the new peace envoy to Syria, replacing Kofi Annan. Following initial consultations and meetings of Lakhdar Brahimi with Syrian President Assad, Russian, Chinese, as well as other officials, a cease fire attempt was announced towards late October, in order to respect the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Eid al-Adha cease fire attempt
Brahimi appealed on both the Syrian government and the armed opposition to stop the killing during the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, which fell that year probably on 26 October 2012, and 3 or 4 days after it. Government and most of the opposition groups said ‘yes’ to his appeal. Yet, the lull in the fighting lasted very short, according to Brahimi, after which both parties accused the other of not having stopped its violence.

Visiting China
On 31 October 2012, Brahimi spoke in Beijing with Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi about Syria. Afterwards, Yang said he supported a “political transition” in Syria, and supported Brahimi’s mediation efforts.