The Syrian National Coalition’s Department of Foreign Relations held a number of important meetings with officials and diplomats from the US State Department, Germany, France, and Denmark with the aim of urging the governments of those countries to take serious, concrete stances and ensure an end to the crimes the Assad regime and Russian forces are committing in Idlib and northern rural Hama.
Coordinator of the Department, Abdel Ahad Steifo, said that the discussions were focused on the need for serious international action to establish a ceasefire and protect civilians in northwestern Syria.
Steifo pointed out that the Assad regime and Russia’s deliberate targeting of vital civilian centers is aimed at forcing Syrian civilians to surrender or leave their homes. He stressed that these attacks constituted war crimes under the international law and the international humanitarian law.
Steifo also stressed the importance of the resumption of humanitarian and medical aid to civilians in the region and not to allow the Assad regime and Russia to put more pressure on civilians and rebel fighters alike.
Moreover, Steifo warned of the impact of the situation in Idlib on the political process and the launch of the Constitutional Committee. He underscored the need to uphold international resolutions, noting that the Assad regime and Russia’s insistence on a bloody military solution outside the framework of the UN resolutions would undermine the credibility of the United Nations.
The Department also held telephone conversations with EU officials during which it highlighted the dire situation of the IDPs resulting from the ruthless bombardment and shelling by the Assad regime and Russian forces.
Steifo stressed that “there is no Idlib after Idlib,” as he warned of new mass waves of refugees, especially as the province of Idlib is home to around four million people. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
