Arab League backs Gulf call for an urgent UN General Assembly meeting on Syria

Arab League Council holds a meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Riyadh in this Nov. 9, 2015 file photo. (SPA)

CAIRO: The Arab League has reaffirmed its support for the efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to make the UN General Assembly convene an emergency meeting and use the “Uniting for Peace” resolution to stop the heinous crimes perpetrated by the Syrian government against its own people.
During an emergency meeting, the permanent representatives of Arab countries at the Arab League called on all regional and international parties to move quickly to stop the attacks against Syrians and deliver humanitarian aid to residents of Aleppo and all other besieged areas, describing the practices of the Syrian regime and its allies as war crimes and asking that those who committed them be brought to justice.
The ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Egypt and the Kingdom’s representative at the Arab League, Ahmad Abdulaziz Qattan, reaffirmed the Kingdom’s position to maintain Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
The Kingdom also strives to reach a peaceful settlement to the crisis in Syria, based on UN Security Council Resolution 2253.
“The Syrian revolution will continue for as long as the government of the murderer Bashar Assad is not committed to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 3354 and the Geneva recommendations,” he said.
Qattan said that the Kingdom offers its full support to the Syrian people until they achieve their aspirations.
He also said that Saudi Arabia called for an emergency session of the UN General Assembly, because the UN Security Council has failed to stop military operations and the war of annihilation waged by the Syrian regime and its allies against innocent civilians.
“We meet today, having witnessed with our own eyes the destruction caused by the Syrian regime and its allies, not only in Aleppo but in all Syrian cities, for more than five years. The Syrian regime and its allies were not satisfied with destroying cities, they had to kill the Syrian people and commit massacres and war crimes on an unprecedented scale,” he said.
He said that what is happening in Aleppo can only be described as a massacre under the very eyes of the world that is watching and doing nothing except issuing condemnations and leaving the tyrant to continue killing the Syrian people who long for death to avoid the slow death under the rubble and bombings of the regime and its allies.
Qattan said: “The Kingdom is really worried about the deteriorating situation in Aleppo and condemns all crimes and practices of the Syrian regime and its allies against innocent civilians. These practices and crimes are a gross violation of Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian laws. Those who commit these acts should be brought to justice.”
During its meeting held under the presidency of Tunisia, the Arab League condemned the practices of the Syrian regime and its military operations against Aleppo’s citizens, and the tragedies and destructions wreaked on the city.
The Arab League called on the international community to take the necessary measures to bring all those who participated in the aggression against innocent civilians in Aleppo and other Syrian cities to international justice.
It also called on the international community to pressure the Syrian regime to open safe passages for civilians besieged in Aleppo.
The Arab League renewed its call for the UN Security Council to discharge its responsibility of keeping peace and maintaining security, to implement resolutions 2254, of 2015, and 2268, of 2016, which call for an immediate cease-fire in all parts of Syria, and take all necessary measures to achieve this as quickly as possible.
The league called on member countries to exert more efforts, particularly the countries involved one way or another in the Syrian crisis, to exert pressure on the regime to stop the military attack on Aleppo.
The UN Security Council should make a clear decision to force the regime stop military operations against the Syrian people and resume the diplomatic process to find a comprehensive and permanent solution to the crisis in Syria.
The Arab League called on member countries and the international community to offer immediate aid to the Syrian people and separate humanitarian work from politics, not use it for political bargaining or to set preconditions in order to gain political and military milage.
It also stated that the ministerial Arab committee on Syria should join forces with relevant regional and international parties to make the aggression against the bleeding of the Syrian people stop, and to present a report with investigations into the situation in Syria to the Arab League Council.
The Arab League renewed its commitment to fighting terrorism in all its forms in Arab countries, condemned the crimes of terrorist organizations like Daesh and Jabhat Al-Nusra against Syrian civilians.
The league also renewed its support for the Syrian people and reaffirmed their right to live in peace and stability, enjoying political rights, freedom, justice and equality.