The UN-Arab League Joint Envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi will renew his contract as Syrian peace joint envoy for six months, a UN spokesman said late Wednesday. It is noted that Brahimi’s current contract is to expire Friday. The UN-Arab League Joint Envoy on Syria took over in August as envoy for Syria, where an estimated 70,000 people have died in a now two-year uprising. He succeeded former UN chief Kofi Annan, who quit after failing to convince the Syrian regime to halt its crackdown, or Syrian allies Russia and China to allow UN Security Council sanctions against Damascus.