Geneva: Qatar yesterday strongly condemned continued indiscriminate attacks by the Syrian government against civilians and urged the international community to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
In a speech during the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council, in a public debate with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN in Geneva, Faisal bin Abdullah Al Henzab, said: “We thank the members of the International Inquiry Commission on the information they have provided to us today in spite of the continued refusal of the Syrian authorities to allow the Commission to enter the Syrian territories to implement the mandate entrusted to it to the fullest, a matter which we strongly denounce.”
He added: “After getting briefed on the Commission’s report, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the continuing indiscriminate attacks carried out by the Syrian regime forces and the targeting of civilians and civilian targets such as hospitals, schools and places of worship without exception, and we also condemn the Syrian regime’s use of the chlorine gas, in flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2118, and the explosive barrels or ‘Drums of Death’ as called by the Syrians, which emphasises that the Syrian regime is determined to pursue a policy of scorched earth and the practice of killing and destruction, detention and torture as an approach to deal with the crisis.”
Al Henzab stressed that while Qatar condemns all violations carried out by extremist groups in Syria, and “we would like to emphasise that the Syrian regime is primarily responsible for the emergence and growth of extremist currents and ideas in Syria, their spread in the region, and the dispersal of international efforts aimed to help the Syrian people.”
He said Qatar had warned at the beginning of the Syrian crisis that responding to the legitimate, peaceful demands of the Syrian people with repression and the use of military means would lead to the situation prevailing today, and alleged that the Syrian regime was seeking to achieve political and military gains at the expense of the blood of the Syrian people. He added that the Syrian regime was the main beneficiary of the presence of extremist groups that it does not seek to confront or eliminate, according to paragraph 10 of the Commission’s report.
Al Henzab urged the international community to take urgent and effective action and put pressure on the Syrian regime to force it to abide by international resolutions to achieve political transition leading to the establishment of a transitional authority that could achieve the legitimate demands of the Syrian people.
QNA
