:00:04. > :00:09.Could open have the... The headlines: Sun Myung Moon one has
:00:09. > :00:13.died. He gained thousands of followers in the 1970s and 1980s.
:00:13. > :00:18.He was accused of brainwashing his followers and lining his pockets.
:00:18. > :00:21.A bail hearing is due to take place in Pakistan for a young Christian
:00:21. > :00:27.girl, arrested last month under the country's controversial blasphemy
:00:27. > :00:33.laws. On Sunday, a Muslim cleric was arrested under suspicion of
:00:33. > :00:36.attempting to frame her. In a surprise result, Oscar but
:00:36. > :00:41.stories of South Africa was narrowly beaten in the 200 metres
:00:42. > :00:46.at the Paralympic Games in London. Afterwards, he complained that the
:00:46. > :00:52.winner, from Brazil, had unfairly when thinned his running blades,
:00:52. > :00:57.which was denied by the Paralympic Committee -- lengthened.
:00:57. > :01:00.Now a change to our normal programming. The new international
:01:00. > :01:04.envoy if to Syria has described the task ahead of him as nearly
:01:05. > :01:14.impossible. Only his second day in the job, he spoke to the BBC in New
:01:15. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:29.York. Welcome to this BBC News's special.
:01:29. > :01:32.It is now almost 18 months since the uprising in Syria. Here in New
:01:32. > :01:37.York, the international community remains deeply divided over what to
:01:37. > :01:41.do next. This week, the new envoy takes over from where Kofi Annan
:01:41. > :01:46.left off, trying to bring peace to a country many now say it is in the
:01:46. > :01:51.midst of a brutal civil war. Kofi Annan called it a mission
:01:51. > :01:58.impossible. How can a veteran Algerian diplomat, one of the UN's
:01:58. > :02:00.most experienced trouble shooters, succeed where his predecessor
:02:00. > :02:06.failed? Wellcome, thank you for talking to
:02:06. > :02:11.the BBC. Thank you for having me. Is it mission impossible? I suppose
:02:11. > :02:21.it is, if Kofi Annan says so. It is definitely a very, very difficult
:02:21. > :02:25.
:02:25. > :02:31.issue. Kofi Annan has done everything possible. I was in touch
:02:31. > :02:36.with him all the time. We discussed this several times. I can't think
:02:36. > :02:46.of anything that I would have done differently from him. So he read
:02:46. > :02:46.
:02:46. > :02:50.into a brick wall? Exactly. -- ran into. That is what everybody is
:02:50. > :02:55.saying. I am standing in front of that wall, I will see Kofi Annan
:02:55. > :02:59.again a couple of days. I suppose we will have a look. Some people
:02:59. > :03:03.have said there are some cracks in that wall. We will see of those
:03:03. > :03:13.cracks exist. If they don't, we will have to see if we can go round
:03:13. > :03:13.
:03:13. > :03:18.the wall. There is no other choice. Whether we can work out something,
:03:18. > :03:26.something out of those cracks that to him the wall, with a weekend or
:03:26. > :03:32.around it, I don't know. Some say that you would not have risked your
:03:32. > :03:36.reputation unless you saw some hope somewhere. No, No. I don't see any
:03:36. > :03:42.cracks. Somebody else said there may be cracks. We're trying to find
:03:42. > :03:52.them. You don't see any yourself? don't see any myself yet. We are
:03:52. > :03:54.
:03:54. > :04:01.examining the wall to see if there are any cracks to work on. 78 years
:04:01. > :04:06.old - coming into this, I am coming into it with my eyes open. With no
:04:06. > :04:12.illusions that it is going to be easy. But then, have you heard of
:04:12. > :04:20.the mission that the United Nations have undertaken which has been
:04:20. > :04:25.easy? So, you know, it is my duty. My duty to try, and that is what I
:04:25. > :04:32.will do. And yet, in public, you told the UN Secretary General that
:04:32. > :04:41.you were honoured, but also scared. What are you scared of? I am scared
:04:41. > :04:46.of the weight of the responsibility. People are already saying that
:04:46. > :04:55.people are dying - what are you doing to help? Indeed, we are not
:04:55. > :05:00.doing much. That in itself is a terrible weight. I realise the
:05:00. > :05:07.importance and the difficulty of the responsibility. This is, I
:05:07. > :05:12.think, what they expect. importance of succeeding, if it is
:05:12. > :05:20.possible? Absolutely, it should be possible. But you see this is also
:05:20. > :05:25.an appeal to everybody inside Syria and outside Syria to say - this is
:05:25. > :05:32.not the numbers of people that are getting killed every day only. As
:05:32. > :05:36.bad as that is, it is much more than that. What's going to happen
:05:36. > :05:42.to Syria next year if we don't find some kind of solution? The
:05:42. > :05:52.beginning of a solution right now. What is going to happen around
:05:52. > :05:52.
:05:52. > :05:59.Syria? Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and further afield. This is
:05:59. > :06:04.what we are doing. This is what Kofi Annan said in his resignation
:06:04. > :06:09.statement. This is what we're continuing to say every day.
:06:09. > :06:13.have come to New York, you have now talk to or met every member of the
:06:13. > :06:18.Security Council. The divided Security Council that Kofi Annan
:06:18. > :06:23.cited as the main reasons for his failure. Did you see a glimmer of
:06:23. > :06:30.hope? Not yet. We are in touch with them. We are continuing to talk to
:06:30. > :06:36.them. They have all expressed welcome, support, thanks for
:06:36. > :06:39.excepting the difficult mission, which is great. That individual
:06:39. > :06:46.support they have expressed will have to translate into a collective
:06:46. > :06:51.support. But it is paralysed. Some have even gone so far as to say
:06:51. > :06:54.that it is almost a new Cold War. You have Russia and China backing
:06:54. > :07:02.President Assad. You have Western and Arab states backing the
:07:02. > :07:08.opposition. Sure. Yeah. Do you see it as a new Cold War? I don't know
:07:08. > :07:13.if it is a new Cold War, but it is bad. It is a worry for us. There is
:07:13. > :07:18.no vitality that will remain like that, next week, next month, after
:07:18. > :07:27.that. The General Assembly is coming, everyone will be here.
:07:27. > :07:32.Everybody is talking, you know, I have seen statements by the Russian
:07:32. > :07:35.Foreign Minister. A lot of people have talked to me directly, the
:07:35. > :07:43.Russian Foreign Minister, the Chinese Foreign Minister. Quite a
:07:43. > :07:48.few other people. We will be trying to see how they can work together.
:07:48. > :07:53.Did any of them say to you "we are really sorry that Kofi Annan had to
:07:53. > :08:03.resign because of us and we will try harder"? In those terms, no.
:08:03. > :08:07.
:08:07. > :08:12.(LAUGHTER).... Kofi Annan denounced finger-pointing. But he pointed
:08:12. > :08:17.quite a few fingers himself. I think they are aware of that.
:08:17. > :08:24.have already made it clear - a veiled threat - you said "if I
:08:24. > :08:30.don't have support, I don't have a job". Did I say that? Yes. You know,
:08:31. > :08:34.this is literally true. It's not the first time that I have told the
:08:34. > :08:44.Security Council - you asked me to do something and then you don't
:08:44. > :08:45.
:08:45. > :08:51.give me any support. The last time was in Afghanistan in 1999. There
:08:51. > :08:56.was no Cold War behaviour then. do see it as cold-war behaviour.
:08:56. > :09:02.That is what you say. There was no Cold War behaviour then, and yet
:09:02. > :09:07.there was no support for me. I politely said, you know, in these
:09:07. > :09:17.conditions, there is no work for me. When you call for fundamental and
:09:17. > :09:20.
:09:20. > :09:25.urgent change, what does that mean for you? I think it is clear in
:09:25. > :09:34.every single country, the people in the Arab world are asking for
:09:34. > :09:44.change. Some or asking for a regime change, some use other slogans. The
:09:44. > :09:52.need for change is real. In February last year, 2011, I said
:09:52. > :09:56.something like "change is needed, change is unavoidable". Governments
:09:56. > :10:03.can lead that change in their respective countries, but if they
:10:03. > :10:08.don't, they will be its victim. I stand by that. By those statements.
:10:08. > :10:12.Bashar al-Assad has had 18 months, almost. Is that enough time to show
:10:12. > :10:18.whether he is willing to lead the change? A lot of Syrians have
:10:18. > :10:25.decided that it shows he hasn't. You know, I still need to talk to a
:10:25. > :10:35.lot more people to make up my mind about which direction things will
:10:35. > :10:43.go. I am a man of peace. I am optimistic - I have to be
:10:43. > :10:50.optimistic, even in the face of extreme difficulty. Again, I am not
:10:50. > :10:55.going to pass judgement - or at least, not yet. You said that you
:10:56. > :10:59.agree with almost everything Kofi Annan did or said. In his parting
:10:59. > :11:07.advice he said "it is clear President Bashar al-Assad must
:11:08. > :11:12.leave office." Do you agree? again, I'm not going to comment. I
:11:12. > :11:16.stand by what I said about Kofi Annan. He is a friend and I have
:11:16. > :11:20.been very close to him throughout the time he has been working. That
:11:20. > :11:25.is what I meant - don't take it literally that I approve of every
:11:25. > :11:30.single word he has said. It has been noted that in your other
:11:30. > :11:37.difficult negotiations you seem to have chosen the snow victor, no
:11:37. > :11:40.vanquished approach, which means kind of power-sharing. Do you see
:11:40. > :11:44.this in a situation like Syria where President Assad is facing
:11:44. > :11:50.opposition but still retains some support? Again, if you talk about
:11:50. > :11:56.my approach - might approach is that, in every situation there is a
:11:56. > :12:06.common ground. Even if the people involved in the conflict don't see
:12:06. > :12:07.
:12:07. > :12:12.it to begin with. The media -- at the mediator tries to make them
:12:12. > :12:20.aware of that common ground and to investigate how they can extend
:12:20. > :12:27.that ground. Her will, at the end of the process, hold what share of
:12:27. > :12:31.power, is, of course - will be the result of the negotiations and the
:12:31. > :12:37.discussions, the debate. This is really for the people of the
:12:37. > :12:46.country to decide. I think you are aware of my great insistence on the
:12:46. > :12:53.fact that people from outside can help a process, but the decisions,
:12:53. > :12:58.the ownership of the process has to be in the hands of the people. This
:12:58. > :13:05.is not just the manner of speaking with me. I believe that 100%. You
:13:05. > :13:10.know, it will be the Syrian people, once they realise, as I hope they
:13:10. > :13:14.will, that every conflict has to end up in a negotiation. The
:13:14. > :13:21.earlier they realise that, the better. When they do that, then it
:13:21. > :13:25.is up to them to decide who will hold what part of the power. If I
:13:25. > :13:29.had understood you correctly - at this point you don't want to say
:13:29. > :13:38.publicly whether you believe or not that President Assad should step
:13:38. > :13:45.down, but you believe he should be part of a transition? I'm not
:13:45. > :13:53.making any similar statements of who is where and so on. I will go
:13:53. > :14:00.back to my statement in February 2011 - change is indispensable,
:14:00. > :14:06.change is unavoidable, it cannot be cosmetic and governments have to
:14:07. > :14:11.accept it otherwise they will have problems. In effect, you are being
:14:11. > :14:14.very diplomatic, you are saying it in other words. The definition of
:14:14. > :14:17.fundamental - and you yourself may have been one of the first people
:14:17. > :14:23.to say there will be a revolution - that means, by definition, they
:14:23. > :14:27.will have to be a new order, the new leader. You know, there will be
:14:27. > :14:34.a new order. Who are the people will be in that new order, I don't
:14:34. > :14:38.know. If they can adapt and accept the new order, genuinely, you know,
:14:38. > :14:42.maybe the people will accept that. I don't know - that is not for me
:14:42. > :14:46.to say now. So does it worry you that your reticence to make a
:14:46. > :14:54.statement has angered the opposition even before you took the
:14:54. > :15:01.job. I met them and I told them - please, please remember I am not to
:15:01. > :15:04.winning only you. I am working for two situations - I am a diplomat, I
:15:04. > :15:11.am a mediator, a negotiator. I don't speak the same language as
:15:11. > :15:17.you. I met them, and I hope that that has been clarified. In a
:15:17. > :15:23.conflict like this, a very brutal conflict - is it the government's
:15:23. > :15:30.side that has to take the first step because they are in power?
:15:30. > :15:36.This is what Kofi Annan ended up by saying. He said that the government
:15:36. > :15:40.has the main responsibility. They have the big guns, they have the
:15:40. > :15:45.army, I don't know how big the Syrian army is - hundreds of
:15:45. > :15:51.thousands. Much more important than that - every government is
:15:51. > :15:56.responsible for the security of its own people. So, you know, I am sure
:15:56. > :16:06.they will not object if you ask them to have more responsibility
:16:06. > :16:13.
:16:13. > :16:23.Kofi Annan called them intransigent. Yes. Is your first task a
:16:23. > :16:24.
:16:24. > :16:34.ceasefire? That would be great. it possible? Kofi Annan didn't
:16:34. > :16:36.
:16:36. > :16:44.succeed with that. All parties started by saying yes. I have that
:16:44. > :16:50.they are now is for it more aware of all of the damage that a
:16:50. > :16:55.continuation of fighting would inflict. I certainly will be
:16:55. > :17:00.discussing this with them. President Assad said he needs more
:17:00. > :17:04.time to crush the opposition. The opposition has repeatedly said here
:17:04. > :17:12.it will not talk to President Assad. There are so many different groups.
:17:12. > :17:20.It is difficult Fiji know who to talk to. It is not uncommon in the
:17:20. > :17:27.situations. We will talk to all of those who are ready to talk to last
:17:27. > :17:31.and are represented. They say they did not want to talk to one another.
:17:31. > :17:38.If they did, they would not be me. I hope that they will be talking to
:17:38. > :17:44.me. That will lead us to them talking to one another. We need to
:17:44. > :17:49.take a different approach than Kofi Annan did. His peace plan failed.
:17:49. > :17:53.The ceasefire never held. You have changed the name of your job.
:17:53. > :18:03.You've asked Ray different mandate. How do you want to do is different
:18:03. > :18:04.
:18:04. > :18:11.Nic Naitanui I don't know. Kofi Annan said in his press conference
:18:11. > :18:21.about the plan, he said those points, I love taking with me, they
:18:21. > :18:21.
:18:21. > :18:28.will stay on the table. -- I am not taking them with me. What I am
:18:28. > :18:38.saying is that now we have a double box in which we put all of the
:18:38. > :18:40.
:18:41. > :18:46.instruments. Why put tolls in the box when there is work? Many
:18:46. > :18:56.observers have said that the plan is dead. It has not succeeded.
:18:56. > :19:03.is not true. Kofi Annan is gone. He says the plan stays behind. Will
:19:03. > :19:10.not use it in exactly same manner as it was used. We found that it
:19:10. > :19:20.was not right. It is good to have it. We will see what we can make of
:19:20. > :19:22.
:19:22. > :19:27.it. You have said it is urgent. Every day more people are dying.
:19:27. > :19:32.Your experience as a negotiator, she did not have a plan? He has
:19:32. > :19:36.been meeting opposition leaders for more than one year in Paris. You
:19:36. > :19:41.have been talking to Kofi Annan war through the six months. You must
:19:41. > :19:50.have formed some ideas. I have a few ideas but they do not have a
:19:50. > :19:58.plan. I do not want to pretend that I have things that do not exist.
:19:58. > :20:04.Talking to a few people when you're just an observer, it is not at all
:20:04. > :20:09.the same thing as talking to people when you have such a responsibility.
:20:09. > :20:16.The argument that people are dying is absolutely true. People are
:20:16. > :20:24.dying. Some people even say you were responsible for the deaths
:20:24. > :20:34.because you have not managed to from day one. I wish it were
:20:34. > :20:36.
:20:36. > :20:43.possible. It does not work that way. Syria is a civil war. You have
:20:43. > :20:53.already called it that, a sectarian war, a proxy war, a new Cold War.
:20:53. > :20:54.
:20:54. > :21:04.It is an awful lot. It is extremely difficult to fix. A situation like
:21:04. > :21:04.
:21:04. > :21:13.this is not standard. -- static. It is never static. If he does not
:21:13. > :21:18.improve it gets worse. Everyone says they want all the regional
:21:18. > :21:23.players want peace. They are all involved in perpetuating the war.
:21:23. > :21:27.The government in Damascus says the rebels have been warned -- arms by
:21:27. > :21:34.Saudi Arabia and Turkey. They were not lay down their arms until those
:21:34. > :21:38.channels are closed. The opposition says that Russia and Iran are
:21:38. > :21:46.arming President Assad. There seems to be the trend. No situation is
:21:46. > :21:56.tragic. The trend is for greater militarisation. The UN would call
:21:56. > :22:06.on all of those who were arming parties to stop doing so. As media
:22:06. > :22:11.
:22:11. > :22:17.tours you can have only repeat this. People are angry with Kofi Annan.
:22:17. > :22:26.The government say it is our right, we have the monopoly on the use of
:22:26. > :22:36.force. The opposition says they are being massacred. How can we tell
:22:36. > :22:36.
:22:36. > :22:41.them to accept the slaughter. I understand that position. When they
:22:41. > :22:48.accept a political situation is much better. It is an existential
:22:48. > :22:58.battle. Kill or be killed is the driving force. It is not about
:22:58. > :23:00.
:23:00. > :23:10.killing. It has been going on for Syria for 50 years. What people
:23:10. > :23:12.
:23:12. > :23:21.call a mosaic of communities was incredibly harmonious. People have
:23:21. > :23:30.multiple identities. They took their Syrian identity first. I
:23:30. > :23:40.refuse to believe that they are going to get that. I refuse to
:23:40. > :23:41.
:23:41. > :23:51.believe that they would go back to narrow identities. They will find
:23:51. > :23:55.it indispensable to kill. As you start this, whether it is Mission
:23:55. > :23:58.impossible, or you're a tough assignment yet, let us finish with,
:23:58. > :24:05.they must have been something that you saw that you could do to turn
:24:05. > :24:12.this around. What is it that made you decide to take on the job?
:24:12. > :24:21.made me decide to take on the job is, perhaps a little bit of vanity.
:24:21. > :24:27.Perhaps an excessive sense of duty. I knew perfectly well that the
:24:27. > :24:35.United Nations cannot stay away from a problem like this. If they
:24:35. > :24:44.asked me to help, who am I to say no? That is what has led me here.
:24:44. > :24:51.Once again, I know how difficult it is. I know how nearly impossible
:24:51. > :25:01.Liz's -- his ears. I am not here to try and win another battle for
:25:01. > :25:07.
:25:07. > :25:17.myself. Les is totally unimportant. What is important is the victory.
:25:17. > :25:19.
:25:19. > :25:29.If I can help a little bit and I think it was worth the risks.
:25:29. > :25:45.
:25:45. > :25:49.We may have enjoyed the wettest summer for something like 100 years.
:25:49. > :25:53.Better weather prospects on offer for September. For the first half
:25:53. > :25:56.we are looking at mainly dry conditions with sunny spells. The
:25:56. > :26:02.north and west of the British Isles will be windy with some showers
:26:02. > :26:05.around. A close look at things. Across southern counties of England
:26:05. > :26:10.the remnants of an all weather front will give us a cloudy start
:26:10. > :26:15.to the day. Things will brighten up quickly with better prospects. A
:26:15. > :26:24.lot more sunshine later on to the day. The service guy is not far off.
:26:24. > :26:30.Plenty of sunshine. Further west there will be some cloud. A few
:26:30. > :26:40.light showers. Nothing too untoward. In Northern Irelandwill be brighter
:26:40. > :26:41.
:26:41. > :26:49.with some hazy sunshine. Around the Bristol Channel there will be some
:26:49. > :26:54.thicker cloud. In Cornwall we will see some mist and fog. Through the
:26:54. > :26:59.rest of Monday the cloud breaks up across most of southern England. It
:26:59. > :27:03.may be sudden across the south-west. Strength in the wind developing
:27:03. > :27:09.through the afternoon. It will blow a band of Wendy into western
:27:09. > :27:16.Scotland. For most of us a fine day. Temperatures getting into the low
:27:16. > :27:26.to mid-twenties. Highs of 26 degrees. Monday night will be windy.
:27:26. > :27:27.
:27:27. > :27:33.Severe Gale severe pain. -- developing. Gusts of 60mph getting
:27:33. > :27:38.up to 70mph. A band of clouds pushing southwards. A few spots of
:27:38. > :27:44.rain. My series will have a reasonable day. Through Wednesday,
:27:44. > :27:51.Thursday and Friday, a big area of high pressure. The weather fronts
:27:51. > :27:55.will never be two far away from Scotland. A few showers in the
:27:55. > :28:01.Highlands of Scotland. Most other day is a -- other areas will have a
:28:01. > :28:05.reasonable day. Through Thursday and Friday we keep the dry weather