UNSC resolution on E. Ghouta must be respected - Dutch diplomat

NEW YORK, March 2 (KUNA) -- Since this Council adopted resolution 2401 last Saturday, civilians are still dying in Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere in Syria, a development that requires an immediate full nationwide cessation of hostilities, a Dutch diplomat late Thursday.
Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations in New York Karel J.G. van Oosterom, whose country is leading the UNSC in March, said that on March 12, the Council would review a report by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres concerning the implementation of the resolution.
Resolution 2401 calls for a 30-day ceasefire to allow evacuation of civilians and the unhampered access of humanitarian aid.
"The Russian proposal for a humanitarian corridor and pauses of 5 hours per day cannot be a substitute to the 30 days of consecutive humanitarian pause," said the Dutch diplomat.
Eastern Ghouta, which has around 400,000 civilians, is being heavily targeted by the Syrian regime through airstrikes and bombardments. The assault resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of people. (end) asf.gta