UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon on Friday reiterated his support for Al-Akhdar Al-Ibrahimi.

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon on Friday reiterated his support for Al-Akhdar Al-Ibrahimi, the new UN-Arab League joint special representative for Syria who will assume his position on September 1.

The secretary-general on Friday met with Ibrahimi, the former Algerian foreign minister, at the UN Headquarters in New York. Ibrahimi was appointed last week to replace Kofi Annan, who would step down at the end of this month as the international mediator on the 18-month Syrian crisis.

During the meeting, Ban said that Ibrahimi could count on the full backing of the international community when he assumes his position.

"You have all the respect and full support of the international community," Ban told the new special envoy. "It is crucially important that the Security Council and all the United Nations systems support your role."

Starting next month, Ibrahimi will be fully engaged in good offices on Syria on behalf of the United Nations and the Arab League. Earlier this week, the United Nations said that Ibrahimi would be based in New York.

Speaking before the Friday meeting, Ban said that Ibrahimi has a very important and crucial task to bring peace and stability back to Syria, and to promote human rights there.

During their meeting, Ibrahimi thanked the secretary-general for giving him the opportunity to serve the Syrian people. He stressed that the Syrian people would be his "first masters," and that he would consider their interests first and foremost.

Annan, the former UN secretary-general, announced his resignation as the Syria envoy after a six-point peace plan he proposed failed to bring an end to the Syrian conflict.

The peace plan calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons and troops from population centers, a daily halt in fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment for the wounded, as well as talks between the government and the opposition for a Syrian-led political settlement.

The Annan plan and a plan of action agreed by major world powers at a Geneva meeting in late June are still the basis for any possible political solution to the Syrian crisis, UN officials have said.

"That peace plan remains intact," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters on Friday, adding that the Annan plan and the Geneva action plan are "building blocks for Mr. Ibrahimi to use."