The United Nations on Friday (August 17th) appointed veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria.

Brahimi told Al-Jazeera he is convinced diplomacy can still play a real role in solving the Syrian conflict.

"I don't know if there's any conflict that hasn't ended with some kind of negotiation, with some kind of diplomatic phase," he said.

"The UN, and I suppose the Arab League as well, simply cannot just say 'this is a difficult job, let's look away'," Brahimi said.

"I suppose I'm vain enough to think that with the little experience I have, if I'm asked to try and do something in a situation like this, I cannot say no, even if I'm deeply, deeply aware of the difficulty I am facing," he said.

"We will go into this with a lot of good will, a lot of determination, but a lot of humility as well," he said.

Brahimi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has held a long series of high-profile diplomatic posts, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi both back Brahimi's appointment.

"The [UN] Secretary-General appreciates Mr. Brahimi's willingness to bring his considerable talents and experience to this crucial task for which he will need, and rightly expects, the strong, clear and unified support of the international community, including the Security Council," said Eduardo del Buey, Ban's deputy spokesperson.