Ki-Moon: Syria Arms Suppliers Spreading Misery, Conflict Intensifying
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday that "Syria's conflict has taken a brutal turn with other countries arming both sides, spreading misery and risking unintended consequences as the fighting intensifies and spreads."
"This conflict has taken a particularly brutal turn," Ban said of the 17-month crisis. "The continuing militarization of the conflict is deeply tragic and highly dangerous."
He further cautioned that "those who provide arms to either side are only contributing to further misery - and the risk of unintended consequences as the fighting intensifies and spreads."
"The conflict is intensifying," Ban said. "The longer it goes on, the more difficult it will be to contain. The more difficult it will be to find a political solution. The more challenging it will be to rebuild the country and the economy."
Addressing the UN General Assembly, the head of the UN wondered: "How many children will attend the funerals of their parents; how many parents will weep at the funerals of their children, before all parties agree to end the violence and destruction?"
"The Syrian people have waited too long," he said and pointed out that "now the entire region is being engulfed by the complex dynamics of the conflict."
In parallel, the new UN mediator to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, who took up the role on Saturday and described his bid to broker peace as "nearly impossible," also briefly addressed the UN assembly.
"The death toll is staggering, the destruction is reaching catastrophic proportions and the suffering is immense," Brahimi said. "I am looking forward to my visit to Damascus in a few days' time, and ... to all the countries who are in a position to help the Syrian-led political process become a reality."
Ban described Brahimi's task as "daunting, but not insurmountable" and said that "what was missing in international efforts to end the conflict was a unity of effort that will have an impact on the ground."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
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