Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has been appointed the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis.
Annan's successor, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil ElAraby announced the appointment on Thursday ahead of Friday's major international conference on Syria in Tunisia's capital.
The announcement said that as the UN-Arab League special envoy, Annan will work on bringing an end to "all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis".
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The statement said Annan will work with parties inside and outside Syria to end the violence and the humanitarian crisis and facilitate "a peaceful Syrian-led and inclusive political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people through a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition".
A deputy for the joint special envoy will be chosen from the Arab region, they said.
Diplomats said on Thursday that Ban couldn't find a high-level Arab acceptable to both sides and turned to Annan and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari as possible candidates. Both are veteran mediators - Annan in Kenya and Ahtisaari in Kosovo - and both are Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Last week, the UN General Assembly asked Ban to support the Arab League's efforts to promote a peaceful solution to the crisis, including through appointment of a special envoy to Syria.
