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Damascus, Aug 23 (IANS) Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad said Thursday that his country is expecting news from the UN secretariat about the next step's details after the expiry of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria. "The next step is the resumption of UN presence in Syria in different ways and we are expecting news from the secretariat in the coming few days," Mikdad told reporters Thursday, reported Xinhua. Mikdad made the remarks after meeting with Gen. Babacar Gaye, head of the expired UN mission. The four-month UN observer mission in Syria expired last week. The United Nations agreed to establish a civilian office in Damascus to keep a foothold in Syria, which is seemingly veering towards a fully-fledged civil war. The UN Security Council has also appointed Algerian Lakhdar Brahimi as new special envoy to Syria to replace Kofi Annan, who declared his resignation earlier this month due to the incessant violence. Syria has informed the UN that it accepts the appointment of Brahimi, Mikdad said, adding that "we look forward to working with him and hearing his ideas about the solution..." Mikdad further said he is always optimistic that the crisis in Syria should end. However, the Syrian deputy foreign minister accused Turkey of playing a "dangerous" role by harbouring and rendering support to the armed groups. Syria has for long accused regional and international players of inflaming the situation in Syria.
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