UAE CALLS FOR TRUCE IN GHOUTA

Riyadh also wants regime to ‘stop the violence’ in eastern suburbs as more than 300 die in five days of shelling

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have joined international calls for an immediate truce in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation issued an official statement yesterday calling for an immediate truce to protect the life of civilians, reported the state news agency, Wam. It expressed its “deep concern” at the escalation of violence and the repercussions of this on the humanitarian situation.

Regime strikes pounded Eastern Ghouta for a fifth straight day yesterday, bringing the number of civilians killed in the bombardment to more than 400, including 95 children, Agence France-Presse reported.

The strikes came ahead of a potential vote at the UN Security Council in New York on a resolution demanding a monthlong ceasefire in Eastern Ghouta. But by night-time in the UAE, Russia said there was still no agreement at the council on the resolution and presented amendments. Moscow is the Assad regime’s main ally.

Rusia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said Sweden and Kuwait, which drafted the measure, had requested a vote on the draft resolution even though they are “fully aware there is no agreement on it”.

In its statement calling for an immediate truce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation stressed the need for a halt to fighting to allow access for humanitarian aid to reach the enclave.

Saudi Arabia also called on the Syrian regime to end its assault on Eastern Ghouta.

“We stress the need for the Syrian regime to stop the violence, to allow in humanitarian aid, and to take seriously the path of a political solution to the crisis,” the Saudi foreign ministry said on Twitter.

Earlier, the Trump administration said it strongly condemned “recent attacks on the people of Syria in Eastern Ghouta by Russia and the Assad regime”.

“The targeted destruction of medical facilities in Eastern Ghouta and the continued use of siege tactics, which starve Syrian civilians and prevent humanitarian access, are especially troubling,” White Housepress secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

She called Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s government a “deplorable regime” and urged Damascus to “stop committing additional atrocities”. The Syrian government “must not be further abetted by backers in Moscow and Tehran”, she said.

The UAE also expressed its deep concern over foreign interference in Syria, which it said breached Damascus’s sovereignty and aggravated the crisis.