UN envoy calls on Assad to take lead in ceasefire

Beirut: The international envoy to the Syrian conflict has called on President Bashar Assad’s regime to take the lead in a proposed cease-fire during a Muslim holiday later this month. Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday in Beirut that if the government takes the first step, everyone he has talked to in the opposition will also observe the truce. [caption id=“attachment_493985” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Both Assad’s regime and rebels seeking to topple it have ignored past truce agreements. AP[/caption] Before Brahimi spoke, a Syrian state-run newspaper said the biggest barrier to proposed truce is the lack of a unified rebel leadership to agree to it. Both Assad’s regime and rebels seeking to topple it have ignored past truce agreements. Brahimi acknowledged that such a truce, even if respected, was a “microscopic” step toward ending 19 months of violence in Syria. Anti-regime activists say more than 33,000 people have been killed. AP