LOC09:41
06:41 GMT
NEW YORK, Feb 10 (KUNA) - Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey requested General
Assembly President John Ashe to convene an urgent meeting of the 193-member
body to be briefed by UN officials on the humanitarian and human rights
sitution in Syria, KUNA learned late Sunday.
In a letter to Ashe, the three countries, supported by the 'Fiends of
Syrian people' group, said "we find it timely and necessary that the General
Assembly is briefed" by UN aid Chief Valerie Amos, the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner for Refugees Ant?nio
Guterres, and the Director General of the World Health rganization Margaret
Chan.
They also said that although the parties agreed to resume talks in Geneva
today Monday, the "inability to reach an agreement in the first round to
alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people is an urgent issue of serious
concern for the international community."
They recalled that UN officials have been repeatedly expressing their
"frustration and disappointment"at the lack of progress in addressing the
grave humanitarian situation and the atrocities amounting to war crimes and
crimes against humanity.
Despite ongoing international efforts to put an end to the crisis in Syria,
the letter said, innocent people still continue to suffer from the escalating
violence, widespread human rights violations and deteriorating humanitarian
situation.
It noted that the number of Syrians fleeing their homes and seeking refuge
in neighboring countries is growing with "alarming consequences at regional
and international levels."
It is not clear when the Assembly will convene. Amos is scheduled to brief
the Security Council on Thursday.
Amos expressed "disappointment" on Saturday that the three-day pause agreed
upon by the Syrian warring parties to evacuate civilians from Homs and allow
aid in was broken and that the aid convoys were targeted by unidentified
assailants.
Nine million Syrians, inside and outside the country, are affected by the
three-year conflict that began in March 2011 as a peaceful demand for
democracy and then quickly degenerated into a civil war complicated by the
presence of thousands of foreign fighters. (end)
sj.rk
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