U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan arrives for a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva August 2, 2012. Former U.N. Secretary-General Annan is stepping down as the U.N.-Arab League mediator in the 17-month-old Syria conflict at the end of the month, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said in a statement on Thursday. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)