Annan “will provide good offices aimed at bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis,” a U.N. statement said.
It said that Annan will be guided by last week’s resolution of the U.N. General Assembly, which endorsed an Arab League plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside, and other Arab League decisions on Syria.
The United Nations says that over 5,400 civilians have been killed in Syria’s 11-month crackdown on anti-Assad demonstrators inspired by other Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.
Annan was U.N. secretary-general from 1997 through 2006. After leaving the world body he helped negotiate an end to violence in Kenya that killed 1,220 people after the African nation’s December 2007 election.