Brahimi says Assad plan for Syria 'one-sided'
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Free Syrian army fighters talk as they carry their weapons before heading to the front line in Aleppo Jan. 8, 2013. Picture taken Jan. 8, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday ahead of US-Russia talks on Syria that President Bashar al-Assad's new plan for his embattled country is "more sectarian, more one-sided" than previous initiatives.
He spoke as the first major prisoner swap in the 21-month conflict took place, with rebels freeing 48 Iranians in exchange for more than 2,000 regime detainees in a drawn-out deal with Damascus reportedly brokered by Turkey, Qatar and Iran.
UN and Arab League envoy Brahimi was giving his first public reaction to a three-step plan announced by Mr Assad on Sunday.
"What has been said this time is not really different and it is perhaps even more sectarian, more one-sided," he told the BBC.
