U.N envoy Brahimi to visit Iraq over Syrian crisis

International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will visit key Syrian ally Iran on Sunday a day before heading for Iraq, the state television channel’s website reported on Saturday.

The United Nations and Arab League peace envoy is currently on a regional tour aimed at finding a solution to the conflict in Syria after Damascus rejected a U.N. call to implement a unilateral ceasefire.

“During his visit, Lakhdar Brahimi will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to discuss the situation in Syria,” the channel quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying.

Iran, the main backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, seeks a political solution to the conflict and supports the envoy’s mediation efforts.

In Baghdad on Monday, Brahimi will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over the 19-month uprising, Maliki’s spokesman said on Saturday.

“Iraq has said many times that it supports the efforts of Lakhdar Brahimi to find a solution, and we will work to make this mission successful to end the human tragedy of the Syrian people,” Ali Mussawi said.

He said he had no further details on the veteran troubleshooter’s schedule while in Iraq.

Brahimi first visited the Middle East in mid-September and met Assad in Damascus but earned no promise of concessions from him.

Brahimi visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and was in Turkey on Saturday.

In an interview with AFP on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Brahimi would return soon to Damascus to try again to meet Assad.

Ban suggested Brahimi could go to the Syrian capital next week if his meetings in the region this week were productive.