Syria: UNSC must stop recurrent Israeli attacks, remove blockade

Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bassam Sabbagh has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to strongly condemn Israel’s acts of aggression against the Arab country and put an immediate end to the regime’s recurrent attacks.

Sabbagh made the remarks during a UN Security Council session on the political and humanitarian affairs in Syria on Wednesday, stressing that solving the current crisis in Syria requires the immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States, putting an end to the illegal presence of foreign troops as well as halting acts of terrorism.

“Solving the crisis in Syria requires a move by UN Security Council to stop Israeli recurrent attacks, remove the illegitimate blockade and support the early recovery projects,” he said.

Read more:

• Syria urges UN, Security Council to explicitly condemn Israel's aggression on its territory

The Syrian envoy further noted that “insistence on continuing the aid mechanism through borders that is encircled with a lot of breaches and faults,” reflects extreme selectivity and discrimination against the Syrians who deserve those aids.

He went on to say that the US and EU countries’ claims of seeking to extend the so-called "cross-border aid delivery mechanism" to improve the humanitarian situation in Syria contradicts their unprecedented embargoes.   

Sabbagh further stated that the looting of the nation's oil and wheat by US occupation forces to their bases in Iraq has escalated the suffering of the Syrian people, adding, “We are surprised with the unaccepted ignorance of some sides of these acts.”

The European Union and the US along with their Middle Eastern allies are viewed as the main sponsors of militant groups and notorious terrorist outfits operating since early 2011 to overthrow the government in Damascus.

Apart from fueling militancy in Syria, the EU and the US have imposed a host of unilateral economic sanctions on the Arab nation over the past decade in what appears to be an attempt to deprive the Damascus government of its financial resources and hamper its fight against the terror groups they have been supporting.

Russia: Syrians must be assisted without politicization

Meanwhile, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia voiced concern over the humanitarian situation in Syria, urging the international community to help the Syrian people without any discrimination or politicization.

Nebenzia made the remarks during a session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, stressing that the current humanitarian situation in Syria does not provide an appropriate context for discussions about extending the “cross-border aid delivery mechanism.”

“It is difficult to get rid of the feeling that the efforts that are being made to justify the lack of an alternative to the mechanism for transporting aid across the borders are more than what is being done to organize supplies across the line of contact”, Russia’s state news agency, TASS, quoted him as saying.

The Russian diplomat further said the biased stance of Western states on this issue has not changed during the last half year.

Nebenzia said the situation regarding cross-border aid transfer has not become transparent despite three rounds of informal consultations.

He also emphasized that the arguments in favor of extending the cross-border aid transfer mechanism are not convincing due to the fact that the lack of an alternative to it is fabricated, pointing out that this situation results from Western countries’ inaction.

Over the past years, the US has been maintaining an illegal military presence on Syrian soil, collaborating with anti-Damascus militants and stealing the country’s crude oil resources.

It has also slapped rounds of crippling sanctions on Syria. The bans target almost all Syrian economic and trade activities, as well as the country’s government officials.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk