UN urges justice, not revenge in Syria; schools, churches reopen
- 16 Dec 2024
The United Nations special envoy to Syria on Sunday called for “justice and accountability” in the country, rather than acts of “revenge” following the overthrow of president Bashar Al Assad.
Syrians are only now beginning to scratch the surface of the atrocities committed, after the former despot fled the country for Russia.
“We need to see of course justice and accountability for crimes,” UN envoy Geir Pedersen said after arriving in Damascus. “And we need to make sure that that goes through a credible justice system, and that we don’t see any revenge.” Pedersen also called for “increased, immediate” aid to war-ravaged Syria, saying it had been through “an enormous... humanitarian crisis.” “We need to make sure that Syria receives increased, immediate humanitarian assistance,” he said. Pedersen also called for a quick end to Western sanctions against Syria. “We can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around building of Syria,” he said.
ABDULLAH DISCUSSES SYRIA WITH COUNTERPARTS: Also on Sunday, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, discussed over a phone call with Sayyid Badr Bin Hamad Bin Hamood Albusaidi, the Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, the overall situation in the region, including the latest developments in Syrian. Sheikh Abdullah also discussed the latest developments in the Syrian with Abdullah Ali Al Yahya, Foreign Minister of the State of Kuwait and Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Morocco.
The top diplomats discussed the importance of strengthening Arab, regional, and international efforts to preserve Syria’s unity and sovereignty and to meet the aspirations of its people for security and stability.
SAUDI SLAMS ISRAEL: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expressed its condemnation and denunciation of the Israeli occupation government’s decision to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights and its continued undermining of opportunities for Syria to restore its security and stability.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the Kingdom’s call for the international community to condemn these Israeli violations. It emphasized the need to respect Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, reaffirming that the Golan is a Syrian Arab land under occupation.
QATAR TO RE-OPEN EMBASSY: A Qatari delegation has arrived in Syria and met with officials in the country’s transitional government, the Gulf emirate said on Sunday.
The diplomatic delegation “arrived in Damascus to complete the necessary procedures for the opening of Qatar’s embassy” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said in a statement, adding the Qataris met with the interim government, and reiterated Doha’s “full commitment to supporting the brotherly Syrian people.”
BACK TO SCHOOL: Calm is slowly returning to the streets of Damascus, with dozens of children streaming back to school Sunday for the first time since Assad fled. An official at one school said “no more than 30 per cent” were back on Sunday, but “these numbers will rise gradually.”
On Sunday, Syrian Christians attended their first church service since Assad’s fall. In Syria’s northwestern port town of Latakia, Christian worshippers attending Mass on Sunday at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral were hopeful that the country’s new largely Sunni Muslim leadership would respect their religion.
Like other Christians around the country, they were attending the first Mass since rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad a week ago
Britain has had diplomatic contact with the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) group that swept Assad from power last week, British Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Sunday. “HTS remains a proscribed organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact as you would expect,” Lammy told broadcasters. “Using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and, of course, intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to.”
On the diplomatic front, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said on Saturday Washington had “been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” without specifying how.
After meeting in Jordan, Western and Arab states along with Turkey called for a united peaceful Syria. In a joint statement, diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab countries called for a Syrian-led transition to “produce an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government formed through a transparent process,” with respect for human rights.
Mine-clearing organisation The Halo Trust on Sunday called for a global effort to remove landmines and explosive ordnance from Syria, warning that thousands heading home afterAssad’s ouster were particularly vulnerable. “An international effort to remove millions of cluster munitions, landmines and unexploded munitions is urgently needed to protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of returning Syrians and pave the way to sustainable peace,” Halo said in a statement.
Agencies