Brahimi: needs security council resolution for Syria peace plan

UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told the Security Council on Thursday that any peace plan he crafts for Syria will need the backing of a council resolution. The Security Council has been deadlocked on taking action over the past 20 months. “I have been challenged to produce a plan. I think that we now have the elements of a plan, but these elements cannot be put together until this council has come together and is ready to adopt a resolution that will be the basis for a political process,” Brahimi said after a closed-door briefing to the 15-nation Security Council. “No doubt what is very, very urgently needed is a cease-fire that can hold,” Brahimi said. “A ceasefire will not hold unless it is very strongly observed, and that, I believe, will require a peacekeeping mission.”