12 mln Syrians internally, externally displaced in 7 years - Opposition

RIYADH, March 17 (KUNA) -- Up to 12 million people have been internally displaced or forced to leave the country over the past seven years, said Syria's main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) leader Nasr Al-Hariri Saturday.
Since the eruption of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the Syrian regime has killed about 500,000 people and detained 250,000 others, he added.
Al-Hariri told a press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that they are seeking to halt the bloodshed in Syria.
The regime has undermined efforts of a political solution and infringed all conventions, and has used chemical weapons and internationally-banned bombs, he noted.
According to Al-Hariri, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the regime have been documented.
In its latest military campaign on Eastern Ghouta, the regime has used all types of weapons, he said, adding that besieged civilians in the region may be exposed to genocide.
Moreover, civilians from Ghouta have been used as human shields, and the regime has been using terrorism as a pretext to target the revolutionaries-controlled areas in the region.
The armed factions in Ghouta are ready to negotiate to let Al-Nusra fighters out from the besieged areas.
In the meantime, Al-Hariri said the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) has committed huge violations against Syrians in Afrin.
The political process in Syria now is "absurd" and gives the regime the chance to commit more crimes, he said.
He also stressed that Bashar Al-Asad's departure is basic to any political transition in Syria and that the Syria Free Army (SFA) is committed to a political process.
Russia is trying its new weaponry on the SFA and Moscow impedes the transfer of the Syrian file by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Al-Hariri said. (end) mdm.msa