The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday announced the resignation of the UN-League of Arab States Joint Special Envoy for the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan.

“Mr. Annan has informed me, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Mr. Nabil El Araby, of his intention not to renew
his mandate when it expires on 31 August 2012.

“I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Annan for the determined and courageous efforts he has made as the Joint Special Envoy for Syria,” Ban said in a statement at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Annan, a former UN Secretary-General, was appointed in late February to serve as the high-level representative of the Secretaries-General of
the UN and the League of Arab States on the Syrian crisis.

He was to provide good offices aimed at bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.
Syria had been wracked by violence, with more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-
Assad began some 17 months ago.In recent days, there have been reports of an escalation in violence in many towns and villages,
as well as the country’s two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.