| A thankless assignment, indeed. |
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
said he chose the Swedish-Italian diplomat as the U.N. point man on Syria because of his work at the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
for 40 years, including delicate and difficult jobs as the U.N. special representative in Iraq and Afghanistan. De Mistura replaces Lakhdar Brahimi, who resigned May 31 after nearly two years of failed efforts to end the worsening civil war.
Ban said he consulted broadly before making a decision, including with the Syrian government.
Unlike Brahimi, de Mistura will not be joint envoy of the U.N. and the 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...
, which has been deeply divided over the war in Syria.
Ban stressed, however, that close coordination and cooperation with the vaporous Arab League is "a basic hallmark of our work until now and it will continue to be so."
The secretary-general also announced the appointment of Egyptian Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeddine Ramzy, who was recommended by the Arab League, as de Mistura's deputy.