Syrian govt committing war crimes in Aleppo; Jubeir
to the families of foreigners killed while fighting for the Islamic republic, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday. GENEVA— Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al- Jubeir has said that the Syrian regime was committing “war crimes” in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which has been exposed to heavy shelling over the past nine days despite a “cessation of hostilities” agreement in place.
Jubeir said in a press statement that “what is happening in Aleppo with the Syrian regime and its allies’ air strikes is tantamount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
According to sources close to Jubair, the Saudi top diplomat had left for Geneva on Sunday night to hold talks on the Syrian file with his US counterpart John Kerry. It had been relatively quiet in the city of Aleppo on Sunday after earlier bombings killed since the 253 civilians dead, including 49 children since April 22, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Speaking to Al Arabiya News Channel, Spokesman of the Supreme Commission for Syrian negotiations Dr. Riad Nasan Agha said that the Syrian regime citizenship to the wife, children and parents of foreign martyrs who died on a mission... during the Iran- Iraq war was deliberately striking Aleppo to displace the people and therefore make it easier to recapture.
“The world knows that Aleppo, which is the oldest inhabited city in the world, is equal to Damascus and perhaps exceeds it. Six million people used to live in it. Those were a flame in the Middle East. When you remember Aleppo, you know that you are present in front of a historic city, which the world is proud of,” Agha told Al Arabiya. “This city is recorded on the UNESCO World Heritage, it is the city of landmarks and the humanity’s treasure, it is the treasure of humanity today. Aleppo really contributed to the building of the whole region. Wherever you go, you find the people of Aleppo, the people of industry, trade, culture and civilization.”
Fresh raids in Syria’s Aleppo despite bids to halt fighting Fresh air strikes pounded Syria’s Aleppo city early Monday, an AFP correspondent said, as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva in a bid to halt the mounting carnage.
More than a week of fighting in and around Syria’s second city has killed hundreds of civilians. Air strikes on rebel- held east Aleppo hit in the early hours of Monday, AFP’s correspondent there said, with no immediate reports of casualties.
Several neighborhoods, including the heavily populated Bustan al- Qasr district, were hit.— Agencies European Commission confirmed it would shortly authorize more such extensions within the passport- free Schengen zone.
Seven members of the Schengen zone, including Germany and Denmark, have introduced temporary border controls after more than one million migrants entered the European Union last year, mostly via Greece. The European Commission, struggling to prevent the collapse of the Schengen accord, is expected this month to allow EU member states to retain the emergency border checks, which are due to expire in May, for a while longer.— Agencies
