Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Monday called on permanent members of the UN Security Council to “feel the scale of the humanitarian tragedy that has been unfolding in Syria over the past seven years.” He said that “the conflict has left over half million people dead and millions more displaced as well as caused humanitarian tragedies that are reminiscent of the two world wars.”
Geagea called on the Council’s five permanent members to “take a historic decision under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to stop all military operations in Syria in order to carry out the desired political transition.”
“Dealing with the Syrian crisis through television and empty political statements is not at all commensurate with the ongoing tragedy,” Geagea said.
“The moral responsibility, which is common to all religions of the world, is now knocking the doors of the offices and the consciences of decision-makers in the Council’s five permanent members,” Geagea added.
Geagea warned that the world was moving towards the “law of the jungle, where the strong kill the weak – [a world] ruled only by the language of iron and fire.”
The chemical attack on civilians in the town of Douma is a war crime that bears the hallmarks of the Assad regime, but its ally Russia shares potential criminal responsibility for its use, head of Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of the activist group, said countries should consider putting pressure on President Vladimir Putin ahead of Russia hosting the World Cup in June, as Assad was already “a man who has no reputation left.”
The attack, in which nearly 100 civilians were killed and hundreds more injured, sparked widespread condemnation by Arab and Western countries. Western leaders, including US President Donald Trump, called for the launch of military strikes against Assad’s army positions and airbases in response to the massacre. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Al-Quds Al-Arabi)
