Geir Pedersen (Special Envoy) on the situation in the Middle East (Syria) – Security Council Open VTC15 Mar 2021 – Virtual briefing by Geir Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, on the situation in the Middle East (Syria) The Syrian tragedy will go down as one of the darkest chapters in recent history – the Syrian people are among the greatest victims of this century. As the Syrian war reaches its grim decade-long milestone, the UN envoy for the country told the Security Council on Monday that it will “go down as one of the darkest chapters in recent history” referring to the Syrian people as among “the greatest victims of this century”.