Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, left, meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, right, in Damascus, Syria Thursday Sept. 13, 2012. Brahimi replaced Kofi Annan, who left the job in frustration in August after his efforts failed to stem a conflict that started in March 2011. The new international envoy to Syria arrived in Damascus on Thursday for his first visit to the country since he took up the post in the midst of Syria's devastating civil war. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)