New York: A top UN official and Council members have voiced alarm at
the growing regional dimension of the Syrian conflict.The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey D. Feltman, told the Council that "long standing predictions of the conflict spiralling beyond its borders are coming true, as demonstrated by the recent escalation along the Syrian-Turkish border, rounds of small arm fire into the occupied Golan, exchanges of fire into northern Lebanon, as well as a surge in belligerent rhetoric."
US Ambassador Susan Rice said "no one can deny that
Assad's war against the Syrian people now poses real challenges to all of
Syria's neighbours, including Lebanon."
Rice said "from deadly Syrian regime attacks across the
border to tens of thousands of refugees, Lebanon is already suffering the
consequences of this conflict" and added that "Hezbollah active and
growing support for Assad's war" exposes Hezbollah Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah's "claims of promoting Lebanon's national interest, as
nothing more than a deadly form of deception."
Ambassador Peter Wittig of Germany, commenting on the cross
border violence along the Turkish border, said "this time, the bombs not
only killed an innocent Turkish woman and her four children; they also violated
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our NATO partner."
Wittig noted that "despite all divisions, the Council
has sent a clear message that it will not tolerate Damascus to threaten
regional peace and security."
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari placed blame on those
nations "undermining my country's sovereignty by encouraging terrorism and
by supplying and providing all types of logistical and political support to
armed groups in Syria by providing them with arms and also by facilitating the
transit of terrorists, foreign terrorists into Syria."
The conflict in Syria, now entering its 20th month, has
killed some 30,000 people, according to "unconfirmed" estimates cited
by Feltman.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Syrian
Government to declare a ceasefire to be reciprocated by the opposition armed
groups. Mr. Feltman noted that, to succeed, this must be a collective effort by
all inside Syria, in the region and beyond, and must include an end to arms
transfers to all parties.
In addition to the tens of thousands killed the uprising
against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad that began in March last year
has left 2.5 million Syrians in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to
UN agencies. It has also caused over 330,000 people to flee to neighbouring
Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. -UNifeed