NEW YORK, Feb 17 (KUNA) -- Kuwait is leading efforts at the UNSC to highlight the Middle East's most urging matters namely the Syrian crisis and Palestinian cause, said a senior Kuwaiti diplomat late Friday.
Kuwait permanent delegate to the UN headquarters in New York and current chair of the UNSC this month, Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi told Arab journalists at the UN that Palestinian President Mahmouad Abbas, for the first time, would partake in the council's meeting on the Palestinian situation on February 20.
The UNSC will also hold a similar meeting on February 22, which will feature a speech delivered on the behalf of former US President James "Jimmy" Carter.
The Palestinian cause was always on the top list of priorities for the State of Kuwait, affirmed Ambassador Al-Otaibi who indicated that Kuwait's leadership of the UNSC this month mainly focused on highlighting the situation in Palestine and specifically the catastrophic humanitarian state in the Gaza Strip.
The numerous plights in the Gaza Strip and the dire situation there requires the world to continue assisting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Kuwaiti diplomat said.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Al-Otaibi touched on the Syrian crisis during his address to the journalists, noting that Kuwait had organized and co-organized conferences aimed at providing aid to the Syrian refugees since 2013.
He affirmed that these events displayed Kuwait's utter commitment to resolve the humanitarian situation in Syria.
On the current status quo in Syria, the Kuwaiti diplomat said that there was a push on part of Kuwait to have the UNSC take considerable action to put an end to the brutal assault against innocent civilians in the war-torn country; however, the conflict amongst a number of Secretary Council members seems to derail these efforts.
Ambassador Al-Otaibi affirmed that Kuwait will continue to support and backup efforts aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis in a peaceful manner. (end) asf.gta