By Michelle Nichols and Maya Gebeily

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen attends a press conference in Damascus, Syria January 22, 2025. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen announced on Thursday that he would step down “in the near future” after more than six years in the role and as Syria undergoes a historic transition following the ouster of former leader Bashar al-Assad last year.

He told the U.N. Security Council that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had accepted his resignation.

“It has been my intention for quite some time to move on for personal reasons after a long period of service,” Pedersen told the 15-member council. “My experience in Syria has affirmed an enduring truth – that sometimes it’s darkest before the dawn. For so long, progress seemed absolutely impossible, until suddenly it came.”

Assad was ousted by a rebel offensive in December that ended 14 years of civil war that erupted with protests against him, and 50 years of family rule by him and his father Hafez before him.

“Few have endured suffering as profound as the Syrians, and few have demonstrated such resilience and determination,” Pedersen said. “Today, Syria and the Syrian people have a new dawn, and we must ensure that this becomes a bright day. They deserve this so much.”

During the war, Pedersen was one of several U.N. envoys that led political missions aimed at negotiating a peaceful solution between the Assad regime and its opponents.

But the Islamist-led government that replaced Assad has kept the U.N. mission at an arm’s length, with officials insisting that there was little need for an internationally negotiated political transition now that Assad had been toppled.

“Being a special envoy for any conflict, let alone one that we Syrians know, is no easy job,” Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi told the Security Council, adding that Pedersen “departs on a note of hope, on a success story.”

He said Syria looks forward to “engaging with the Secretary-General and all of you in working with his successor in a way that preserves Syrian sovereignty and fulfills the aspiration of the Syrian people.”

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