Manama: Kuwait has strongly condemned the intentional targeting of populated areas in Syria, besides civil and medical facilities, as well as the indiscriminate bombardment and dropping of barrel bombs on civilians.
Addressing the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Shaikh Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah said that Kuwait also firmly stood behind the demand to bring all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity to be brought to international justice.
The conflict in Syria, which broke out in March 2011, has killed almost 300,000 people and injured many more, and the situation has been gravely deteriorating with the bombing of populated areas by the warring parties, forcing 13 million people to flee for safe havens, making the Syrian people the largest refugee community in the world.
“We follow with concern the continuing crisis, with worsening conditions all over the country,” Shaikh Jaber said, adding that Kuwait has always sought to help the needy Syrian people and hosted three international donor conferences where combined pledges exceeded $7 billion (Dh25.7 billion).
The bulk of the Kuwaiti contributions went to specialised UN agencies, inter-governmental groups and NGOs helping the Syrian people inside the country or in refugee camps in other nations.
In his address, Shaikh Jaber said that Kuwait rejected all forms of terrorism and reaffirmed the country’s active contributions to the international coalition fighting the Daesh terror group, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.
“Kuwait condemns terrorist acts in all their forms and manifestations, as well as its total rejection of all acts of violence and extremism that contravene international laws and norms as well as the teachings of the true religion of Islam, and all other divine religions, in addition to cultural and human values,” he said.
Terrorism was thriving in conflict zones because of the failure to solve conflicts, he said. “It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to recognise that combating this odious phenomenon is an international responsibility, and no one country by itself, no matter how much it tries, can confront or eliminate it,” he said.
He insisted that it was morally impermissible to link this phenomenon to any nationality, religion or civilisation.
As part of its efforts to fight the menace of terrorism, Kuwait contributed effectively to provide support to international efforts to combat Daesh in Iraq.
Kuwait has also been fighting terrorism domestically with threats surfacing frequently but the security authorities were thwarting these plots.
Regarding the situation in Yemen, Shaikh Jaber said that Kuwait remained fully committed to the UN-brokered political solution in Yemen in line with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative and its implementation mechanism, UN Resolution 2216 and Yemen’s national dialogue outcome.
Referring to the ties with Tehran, Shaikh Jaber said that he looked forward to relations of friendship and cooperation with Iran based on mutual respect and understanding, and emphasised the importance of creating the appropriate conditions for any constructive dialogue to take place, in accordance with the rules and norms of international law relating to the principle of good neighbourly relations, respect of sovereignty of states, and non-interference in their internal affairs.
Shaikh Jaber called for an end to the occupation of the three UAE islands and for a response to the endeavours of the UAE to resolve the issue through direct negotiations or by approaching the International Court of Justice in The Hague.