Qatar Emir urges international community not to neglect Syria

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, yesterday urged the international community not to neglect the Syrian issue.

Speaking at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sheikh Tamim said this year marked a decade since the start of the Syrian civil war while the crisis continues to pose “immense perils”, including the increased threat of terrorism in the country, the region and the world at large.

“We should not turn a blind eye to the Syrian issue,” he said. “And the international community should not turn its back on the suffering of the Syrian people, as is recently the case during the bombing of the city of Daraa and other areas,” he added.

He called on the international community to “double its efforts” to end the crisis, through a peaceful solution in accordance with the Geneva 1 Declaration, implement Security Council Resolution 2254 with all its components, and preserve Syria’s regional and national unity as well as sovereignty and independence.

In early September, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned in “the strongest terms” the Syrian regime’s military campaign in Daraa which has led to the displacement of dozens of families in violation of international humanitarian law.

READ: 801 killed in 174 attacks targeting bakeries in Syria since 2011: Report