Syrian Rebels Close In on Airport

Rebel fighters are reporting that their forces have seized the area around Aleppo’s airport and are fighting government troops for control of the vital supply hub. “Our fighters are in all neighborhoods close to the airport,” one commander told The New York Times, saying their progress was due to a supply replenishment. Government media, which previously were dismissive of the Aleppo siege, confirmed the fighting. This progress comes as the United Nations announced it would be replacing special Syria envoy Kofi Annan with Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian minister who helped negotiate the end of Lebanon’s civil war. With luck, it won’t take him long to do the same in Syria.