AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Syrian refugees in Jordan have been protesting a visit to their camp today from the U.N.'s international envoy.
Some in the crowd of 200 threw stones at the vehicle carrying Lakhdar Brahimi (LAHK'-dar bra-HEE'-mee) and his entourage, while chanting slogans implying that Brahimi's peace initiative and meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad are legitimizing his regime. The refugees at the desert camp shouted: "By seeing Bashar, you've extended his life."
Brahimi also toured a refugee camp in Turkey, where there were demonstrations denouncing Assad.
The U.N. says more than 250,000 people have become refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. Some 83,000 refugees have found shelter in 12 camps along the Turkish border with Syria.
Activists estimate that some 23,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began in March of last years.
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APPHOTO ANK112: Lakhdar Brahimi, the new international envoy tasked with ending the 18-month Syrian conflict, left, speaks with Syrian refugees as he visites a refugee camp in Altinozu, Hatay in southern Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Adem Altan, Pool) (18 Sep 2012)
<<APPHOTO ANK112 (09/18/12)>>
