U.N.-Arab envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi entered the war-torn country on his way to meet embattled President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, a Lebanese border official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The international envoy crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border at about 2:00 pm (12:00 GMT),” the official said, following reports by a security official that Brahimi had flown into Beirut International Airport.
Brahimi’s visit to Syria was the first since Oct. 19.
During his previous five-day stay, he held meetings with President Assad and other top Syrian officials over a tentative ceasefire for the Muslim Eid al-Adha feast. Despite pledges, the truce did not hold.
Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi, meanwhile, told reporters that he has not been informed of Brahimi’s visit to Damascus.
A revolt against four decades of rule by Assad’s family has now run for 21 months, killing more than 40,000 people.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks published on Saturday that Brahimi, appointed as envoy by the Cairo-based Arab League and United Nations, would also visit Russia before the end of the year. Lavrov did not give a specific date.
