Russian swipe at UK on Syria
SUNDAY MIRROR World begs for end to Aleppo agony
RUSSIA has accused Britain of putting toppling Syrian tyrant President Assad ahead of delivering aid to stricken Aleppo.
Vladimir Putin’s UK ambassador Alexander Yakovenko said: “Everything that does not contribute to regime change in Syria does not meet the interests of the UK. We do not see the UK delivering humanitarian aid to the residents of Aleppo.”
As relations between Britain and Russia fall to a new low, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon upped pressure on Putin by extending our training programme for the Ukrainian army until 2018. TENS of thousands of sick, cold and desperate Syrians were still waiting to escape war-ravaged Aleppo last night.
A long queue of vehicles built up at a blocked transit point amid urgent pleas to get them out of the city where hundreds of civilians have died.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said yesterday: “All civilians must be allowed out of east Aleppo. Syria’s war must stop immediately to prevent the city’s suf fering being repeated elsewhere.”
Iran and its Shi’ite-backed militias were accused of holding up the evacuation of innocent men, women and children to try to secure an escape deal for their own forces trapped in two villages.
But Mr Grandi said: “For the sake of civilian protection everywhere, Syria’s conflict must be ended now. Civilians should not be hostage to negotiations.”
More than 8,000 people, including 2,700 children, are believed to have left east Aleppo before the evacuation stalled. Many youngsters were so traumatised as Syrian forces and Russian planes crushed rebels that they no longer even cry. And their terrible suffering was clear from footage on Channel 4 News of a toddler named Aya. She is shown sitting in an Aleppo hospital, her dusty and bloody face haunted by fear. The Mirror is campaigning with leading charities to press our government to set out a plan to stop the slaughter of children there. The International Red Cross joined calls for the two sides to agree on restarting the evacuation. The organisation’s head in Syria, Marianne Gasser, said: “We’re ready to resume facilitating the evacuation according to our humanitarian mandate. “But we now expect all parties on the ground to provide solid guarantees in order to keep the operation going. People have suffered a lot. Please come to an agreement and help save thousands of lives.”