JEDDAH: The Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation launched a joint appeal yesterday for a ceasefire in embattled Syria during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The heads of the Arab League and the OIC, Nabil Al Arabi and Iyad Madani, urged “all fighting military parties in Syria to commit to a total ceasefire and all acts of violence and fighting in all its forms on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan,” a statement said.
“The appeal is to stop the bloodshed of Syrians and alleviate their suffering and allow relief organisations to carry out their duties and provide urgent humanitarian assistance,” they said.
The statement was timed to coincide with the start of Ramadan, a month during which Muslims are also encouraged to be more charitable and provide for the needy.
The pan-Arab organisation and the world Muslim body also urged regional and international powers to back their appeal and deploy efforts to persuade Syrian regime forces and rebels to lay down their arms during Ramadan.
The war in Syria, now in its third year, first erupted in March 2011 as a peaceful movement calling for reforms but quickly turned deadly after a regime crackdown on dissent. The UN says that more than around nine million Syrians have fled the country or have been displaced internally because of the war, while a Syrian monitoring groups puts the death toll at more than 162,000.
Meanwhile, the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro stepped up security measures ahead of the final transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal next week.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), charged with extracting and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, confirmed the final transfer of banned material from the Danish vessel Ark Futura to a US ship would take place in early July.
The Ark Futura will take chemicals to Gioia Tauro, where they will be transferred to the US ship Cape Ray on July 2 for destruction at sea.
Some are also due to be destroyed in the US, Britain and Finland.
Final security measures were discussed in Italy on Saturday, with additional barriers and checkpoints to be installed and maritime surveillance to be increased around the port.
A control room housing local officials, firefighters, police and navy officers will begin operating on July 1 ahead of the Ark Futura’s arrival.
A one kilometre (0.6 mile) no-fly zone will be put in place between July 1-3.
“The transfer will take a maximum of 48 hours and may be done within a day,” said OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan.”
“They have the equipment that they need, that is why we chose Gioia Tauro as it deals with this type of cargo all the time,” he added.
Once transferred the chemicals will be transported aboard the Cape Ray into international waters and destroyed in a process the OPCW says will take “up to 60 days”.
AFP
