...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...said Wednesday he had received a written pledge from the Syrian regime to halt fighting from dawn on Thursday in line with his U.N. and Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
-backed peace plan.
Annan had received a letter from Syria's foreign minister pledging "to cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 6:00 am tomorrow, while reserving the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups against civilians, government forces or public and private property'," his front man said in a statement.
For its part, the Syrian defense ministry said Wednesday that it will cease military operations against rebel fighters from Thursday, state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported.
"After our armed forces completed successful operations in combating the criminal acts of the armed terrorist groups and enforced the state's rule over its territory, it has been decided to stop these operations from Thursday morning," the television quoted a ministry official it did not identify as saying.
Annan "will continue to work with the Syrian government and the opposition to ensure the comprehensive implementation of the six-point plan," said his front man.
"The Joint Special Envoy looks forward to the continued support of relevant countries in this regard."