ALEPPO AS ORPHANS TELL OF HELL We must help victims of war

SUNDAY MIRROR

RUSSIAN Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko spoke in the Sunday Mirror last week about his country’s involvement in Syria. Today former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, now head of the International Rescue Committee in New York, answers questions on the issue. Did you believe Mr Yakovenko when he said Russia’s air force is not targeting civilians? There is nothing more civilian or less like a secret facility than a hospital or a UN aid convoy, yet both have been hit this year. Eastern Aleppo has become a ghost town because of indiscriminate airstrikes – even those underground are not safe from bunker-busting bombs. There is nowhere more dangerous to be a civilian. Mr Yakovenko’s argument is that the quicker the Assad opposition is defeated the sooner the war will end. Is that not realistic? Most casualties have come at the hands of the Assad government. The great fear is that the president is now so soaked in blood there can never be a peaceful Syria under him. The key is a ceasefire that allows for a proper political solution. This is about more than President Assad, it is about saving Syria as a place where all communities have a stake in a legitimate and credible government. Donald Trump appears to agree with Vladimir Putin that defeating terrorism takes priority over everything else. Is a Trump presidency likely to be better for the Syrian people or worse? The US and its coalition partners have run more than 16,000 air raids on so-called Islamic State positions, but over 90 per cent of attacks by Russian and Assad forces are on other rebel groups. We don’t know yet how the rhetoric of the US election campaign is going to be turned into policy. The best thing Donald Trump can do is join President Putin in working for a ceasefire. Would a Hillary Clinton presidency have brought the war to an end sooner? We will never know what a Clinton presidency would have brought. What I do know is that the Syria and Iraq conflicts are now joined. The ambassador says Russia is delivering aid but it is being hijacked by terrorists. Is that correct? We have seen no evidence of Russia delivering effective aid. The United Nations is working in Damascus and civilians in government-held areas are getting help from it. Those in opposition-held areas are reliant on aid groups such as the International Rescue Committee. New figures show there are almost six million people in “besieged The Sunday Mirror has called for a no-fly zone over Aleppo so aid can get through. Do you support that? I applaud the Sunday Mirror for not forgetting the civilians of Aleppo but the presence of Russian forces and the incoming administration’s position have taken a no-fly zone off the agenda. Is there another way to get aid through to the children of Aleppo? Eastern Aleppo has been completely cut off since September. The already limited rations within the city ran out on 13th November. Only a ceasefire can give people hope. As a former Foreign Secretary with a greater understanding of the Middle East than most, is there more you can do personally on the international stage to end the fighting? I spent last week in the Middle East and there is a huge sense of uncertainty about the future. I am proud to be part of the efforts to relieve suffering through the work of the IRC. We are doing something, not just talking about it. Is there any chance at all you might return to British politics? Humanitarian crises and supporting refugees is a growth industry. So I have my work cut out at the International Rescue Committee.