KSA backs call for urgent UN meeting on Syria

Saudi Arabia has backed an international call for a special UN session on the situation of Syria. Fierce fighting in Aleppo and the province of Idlib has claimed the lives of more than 40 civilians, including 3 children, on Sunday. This has led to international condemnations of the Syrian regime.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, the UAE and Turkey, has backed the international call for a special UN session on the situation of Syria, according to an SPA report.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday evening, the permanent representatives of the four countries to the United Nations have justified the convening of an emergency special session of the General Assembly, given the “terrifying conditions in Syria.”
They welcomed “the letter of the permanent representatives of Canada, Costa Rica, Japan, the Netherlands and Togo to the United Nations,” in which they have called to and on behalf of 74 UN member states to hold a formal plenary session of the UN General Assembly on the situation in Syria under item 31.
Supporting the move, the statement said, “The letter addressed to the President of the UN General Assembly is commendable, and we believe that the UN General Assembly has responsibilities (that) should be carried out with respect to the preservation of international peace and security.”
The statement pointed out that “Convening an emergency special session will highlight an emergency situation, which deserves special concern from the UN General Assembly.”
No victory for Assad, Putin
As the advance of President Bashar Assad’s forces has sparked international outrage, British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday rebuked Damascus and said the Syrian regime’s advances in war-torn east Aleppo do not represent a “victory for Assad” or his Russian ally Vladimir Putin.
“I really think that it’s a mistake to think whatever happens in Aleppo and other areas of rebel-held Syria could amount to a victory for Assad or for Putin,” Johnson told the BBC.
Asked if the gains could represent a win for Assad, Johnson replied: “Winning, what is he going to win?
“It’s impossible to imagine that the people of Syria, millions of them, are going to be reconciled to an Assad-led regime.
“There are millions of Syrians who won’t accept that outcome, who will continue to fight, so the best outcome is for President (Vladimir) Putin and the puppets that he supports to get to the negotiating table and do a deal that moves Syria away from the Assad regime.”
The government has recaptured around 60 percent of eastern parts of Aleppo that opposition forces seized in mid-2012, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

Source: Arab News