Syria Gets New Mediator

Best of luck! He's going to need it.

Veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has agreed to replace Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria, U.N. sources said on Thursday, as the 17-month-old conflict slips deeper into full-scale civil war.

Annan is stepping down at the end of August after six months in the job because he said his Syria peace plan was hampered by a divided and deadlocked U.N. Security Council.