NEW YORK, Sept 19 (KUNA) -- Kuwait Representative to the UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi expressed disappointment at Russia and China blocking of a UN Security Council draft resolution to end hostilities in Idlib Governorate, northwest Syria, in a voting earlier Thursday.
"Today's session and the stances of each UNSC member towards this balanced humanitarian draft will go down in history," he said, noting that the draft was meant to protect civilian life and property and end the suffering of civilians in Idlib.
Ambassador Al-Otaibi made the comments at a UNSC session after the vote of the draft jointly put forward by Kuwait, Germany and Belgium - the three co-penholders of the Syria humanitarian file.
"The people in Idlib, particularly women, children and the elderly, will remember the results of the voting and continue looking at the UN Security Council with bitter disappointment," he said.
"The Council's failure to adopt this purely humanitarian draft adds to the chain of failures by the Council to address the Syrian disaster over long years. No tangible progress was made towards ending the ordeal of the Syrian people," he protested.
The fact that Russia and China used their veto powers to block the draft means virtually that the lives of millions of people in Idlib are in jeopardy at a time when the UN cautions against the biggest humanitarian disaster in the 21st century due to the ongoing hostilities in Idlib, he reminded.
"The shocking figures released by the UN on the tune of the catastrophe in Idlib were the main motive that prompted us, the co-penholders of the Syria humanitarian file, to table this draft after lengthy tansparent consultations with all UNSC members over the last three weeks," Ambassador Al-Otaibi pointed out.
The military escalation in Idlib since April has led to more than 1,000 civilian deaths and forced nearly half a million others, mainly women and children, to leave their homes, besides the extensive material damage inflicted on civilian infrastructure including hospitals and schools, he went on.
"Regrettably these serious developments and violations of the international humanitarian law drew no correct or unified stand," he said, reaffirming Kuwait's denunciation of any attacks on civilian life or infrastructure whatever the attackers might be.
He asserted the need to bring to book those responsible for such human rights violations.
Ambassador Al-Otaibi reiterated that Kuwait believes there is no military solution to the crisis in Syria, saying that the only exit is through a political settlement that could realize the aspirations of the brotherly people of Syria based on the UNSC resolution 2254 and the Geneva declaration of 2012. (pickup previous) asf.gb