The delegation of the Syrian opposition’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) held new session of talks with the UN team in Geneva on Tuesday evening. The delegation raised the issues of the escalating military campaign by the Assad regime on the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta and the tightened siege on towns and villages in the rebel-held area.
Head of the HNC’s delegation Nasr al-Hariri stressed that the international community has a responsibility to force the Assad regime’s delegation to participate in the Geneva negotiations. He noted that the Assad regime would not stop inventing excuses in order to sabotage the political process.
“The political solution will restore security and stability to the country,” Hariri told reporters in the UN headquarters in Geneva. “The regime is still counting on a military solution as is evidenced by its actions on the ground. The international community bears primary responsiblity for these actions.”
Following talks with the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, Hariri said that the HNC delegation presented a special report to the UN envoy as well as a memorandum to the UN Secretary General, the UN Security Council, the Arab League, and the friends of the Syrian people detailing the deteriorating humanitarian situations in eastern Ghouta. The report also called for taking action to ensure that the siege on eastern Ghouta is lifted and criminals who are committing atrocities in Syria are held to account.
Hariri pointed out that the HNC’s delegation will continue to engage in serious talks with the UN team in order to reach a genuine political solution. He noted that the Assad regime is committing the most horrible atrocities and massacres against the people of eastern Ghouta and preventing the medical evacuation of dozens of women, children and the wounded who need urgent medical care. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
