BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey announced on Friday that former Algerian foreign minister and longtime UN official Lakhdar Brahimi would succeed Kofi Annan as the new joint special envoy of the UN and the Arab League (AL) for Syria.

Born in 1934, Brahimi, a veteran diplomat with plentiful experience in diplomacy and international affairs, studied law and politics in Algeria and France. He is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

During Algeria's independence war, Brahimi was the National Liberation Front's representative to Indonesia. After independence, he served in various high-profile posts, including Algeria's representative at the Arab League, and ambassadors to Sudan, Egypt and Britain.

After his tenure as foreign minister from June 1991 to February 1993, Brahimi worked for the UN and served as the world body's special envoy for Haiti, Afghanistan, Angola and Iraq.

In January 2004, Brahimi was appointed special advisor to then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on conflict prevention and settlement.

After Annan resigned as special envoy for Syria on Aug. 2, the UN was urged by many countries to choose a suitable successor. Analysts say the appointment of Brahimi, a veteran diplomatic trouble-shooter, could bring new hopes for a political settlement of the Syria crisis. Enditem

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