100,000 could die in Syria next year

Envoy: 100,000 could die in Syria next year The stench of the burntbodies was so potent, Abu Jafar said, he couldsmell it from 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away. "It smells awful becausethe regime appears to have burnt so many bodies recently," the opposition activist said Sunday from the beleaguered city of Homs. "Some cars arrived thismorning and carried away dead bodies. We are not sure where." Jafar's account comes aday after what may be the deadliest day yet inSyria's 21-month civil war, according to opposition figures. Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, gave a dire warning Sunday on the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria. "If nearly 50,000 peoplehave been killed in about two years, do notexpect just 25,000 people to die next year-- maybe 100,000 will die," he told reporters in Cairo. "The pace is increasing," he said. "A solution is still possible, but it is only getting more complicated every day,"Brahimi added. "Had we dealt more carefully with this conflict in 2011, it would have been much easier to resolve it. There is no question that it is much harder today."