DAMASCUS, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The new UN-Arab League joint special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi looks like the international community's best bet for negotiating a settlement in Syria, despite the complexity of the crisis as the Syrian forces have been digging in their heels, while the armed opposition has shown no sign of abating amid a lack of international consensus over a workable approach.
Brahimi is trying to pick up where his predecessor Kofi Annan had left off after the six-point peace plan that he crafted went up in smoke when the violence continued unabatedly.
Bolstered by his long history in negotiating crisis, Brahimi, a veteran troubleshooter diplomat, set foot in Syria on Thursday and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other officials in addition to a number of opposition figures at home.
In a briefing Saturday, Brahimi acknowledged that "this crisis is very serious. I also repeat that it is getting worse and has serious consequences on the Syrian people, the region and the entire world."
He also acknowledged that there is a gap between the concerned parties, but added that the common ground does exist and he will " try and help" the parties to find this ground.
He said his mission is difficult, "it is still very difficult and will remain difficult. But I think that these kinds of missions need to be undertaken."
Brahimi made the remarks after meeting with President Assad on Saturday, after which he said Assad "is more aware than me of the scope and seriousness of this crisis."
For his part, Assad affirmed Syria's full commitment to cooperate with any sincere efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria as long as they were neutral and independent, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Assad said the real problem in Syria is the confusion of the political axis with what is happening on the ground, considering that work on the political axis is continuing, particularly regarding the serious call for a Syrian dialogue that is based on the wishes of all Syrians.
"The success of the political work is linked with exerting pressure on the countries which are funding and training the terrorists and allowing smuggling of weapons into Syria to stop such acts," Assad said.
As the Syrian government has seemingly welcomed Brahimi and promised to help him making his mission a success, the broad-based Syrian opposition said that if Brahimi will work in the framework of the UN Security Council, they will not deal with him.
The external opposition has for long been calling for a foreign military intervention in Syria.
The hardliner approach by the Syrian opposition abroad runs counter to the approach of the opposition at home, which calls for a peaceful democratic transition in Syria without a foreign military intervention.
The fractured nature of the opposition is one of the main obstacles that Brahimi should try to surmount in order to pave the way for a national dialogue in the unrest-stricken country, analysts say.
Brahimi also acknowledged the importance of the international community in solving the Syrian crisis, saying that he will be visiting all the countries that have interests in Syria in order to galvanize support for his efforts.
He also said that he has no plan in mind for the time being, adding that he will build the plan after meeting all concerned parties and countries.
Hasan Abdul-Azim, head of the oppositional National Coordination Body, told Xinhua that his group welcomes Brahimi's mission and supports his "difficult and very complicated" task.
Abdul-Azim said he had informed Brahimi that the reason behind the faltering missions of his predecessors is the lack of consensus among the superpowers, adding that such consensus is very necessary in order for Brahimi to achieve concrete results on ground.
For his side, Luai Hussain, another leading opponent, said there are internal and external difficulties hindering a settlement in Syria. "The international difficulties are known now: There is no international agreement," he said, adding that "the internal difficulties are represented in the non-compliance by the Syrian authority to the ceasefire as well as the existence of more than one armed groups of the (rebels) Syrian Free Army in the country."
Hayyan Salman, a political analyst, also agreed that "the success of any initiative is not linked to individuals but to the desires of the concerned parties to make it a success."
Despite the current complexity, Brahimi said he has undertaken his mission "because I am very hopeful that I will be able to help, however difficult - the people of Syria," giving hope that a settlement might occur despite the difficulties.
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