Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Attiyah expressed hope that international efforts will intensify to “put an end to fighting, killings and hunger among civilians” so that the Syrian people “can exercise its will and this requires the support of Arab countries, and also international players.”
At a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday on the sidelines of an official visit to Moscow by the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al -Thani, Al-Attiyah said the delay in finding a real and serious political solution for the crisis will contribute to the growing phenomenon of extremism and terrorism under religious, sectarian and ethnic pretexts.
Al-Attiyah said the Syrian crisis took a sizable share of the talks, particularly in light of the recent international developments and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in a number of regions in Syria.
Those areas continue to suffer under the siege of the Syrian regime that prevented the entry of food, medicine and basic needs.
Last week, the Syrian Coalition appealed to the UN Security Council to take the action necessary to break sieges across Syria ahead of an emergency session held on Friday at a request of France.
Najib Ghadbian, the Syrian Coalition’s Special Representative to the United Nations, said that “one-off assistance is not going to stop the systematic starvation of innocent civilians by Assad regime forces.”
“One million people are currently trapped in besieged communities across Syria because the Assad regime is stealing aid and denying basic access. Every day, innocent men, women and children starve to death because of Assad’s sieges—but these deaths could be stopped immediately, if only Member States would take the action to enforce the Security Council’s resolutions,” Ghadbian added.
Ghadbian stressed that “the Security Council has agreed the mandate to break the sieges across Syria, and save lives immediately, including through the delivery of aid without the consent of the Assad regime. Member States must now do what it takes to ensure that the UN can fulfil its mandate to deliver aid irrespective of consent.” (Source: Syrian Coalition + Anadolu)
