Former Algerian Foreign Minister Expected to Replace Annan as Syrian Envoy

Urges world leaders to overcome differences. Why hadn't anybody suggested that before?

The man expected to replace Kofi Annan as the U.N.-Arab League mediator on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria, on Friday urged world leaders to overcome their differences on a 17-month-old conflict that is descending deeper into full-scale civil war.

"The U.N. Security Council and regional states must unite to ensure that a political transition can take place as soon as possible," Brahimi said in a statement published on the website of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders committed to peace and human rights.

"Millions of Syrians are clamoring for peace," Brahimi said. "World leaders cannot remain divided any longer, over and above their cries."