2014-06-24 13:04:00

Syria: violence contributing to regional instability


(Vatican Radio) Syria’s now four-year-old civil war has created conditions in which radical armed groups, including those affiliated with Al Qaeda, can flourish. The ongoing violence has also contributed to the destabilization of neighbouring Iraq. Testimony earlier this week at the United Nations’ Security Council in New York also suggested that the effects of the Syrian conflict could spread even more broadly through the region.

The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council in a Monday briefing that peace and security in the region and beyond depend on finding a peaceful solution to the conflict, and that bringing the fighting to a halt as soon as possible is a major imperative. "Ending the violence is the most immediate priority,” said Feltman. He went on to say, “It is essential to stem the flow of arms and fighters pouring into the country, and to this end, to impose an arms embargo.”

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Feltman explained that, even when truces are temporary, local and piece-meal, they provide important opportunities to reach people in need. “Local ceasefire arrangements, however imperfect, are taking place and allow us to deliver much needed aid and curtail the levels of violence,” he explained, adding, “We should turn these ‘war agreements’ into ‘peace agreements’.”

Separately, German prosecutors on Tuesday filed terrorism charges against a man accused of joining and fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria. The 20-year-old suspect, who was identified only as Kreshnik B. in line with German privacy rules, has been charged with membership in the organisation, which authorities say he joined in July. The suspect is also charged with conspiracy and with illegally taking part in the fighting in Syria.








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