Russian UN Envoy Blasts West for Protecting Al Nusra Terrorists in Syria

July 31, 2019(EIRNS)—The UN Security Council met on Syria yesterday, and judging from the news reports, UN officials and trans-Atlantic members of the council tried to make Russia a pariah state for allegedly indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Idlib province. Mark Lowcock, the UN’s coordinator of humanitarian affairs (OCHA), accused the Syrian government and the Russian military of using scorched-earth tactics in Idlib. “You in this Security Council have ignored all the previous pleas you have heard. You know what is happening and you have done nothing for 90 days as the carnage continues in front of your eyes,” he said. “Are you again going to shrug your shoulders.... Or are you going to listen to the children of Idlib and do something about it?”

Karen Pierce, the U.K.’s UN representative, fully backed up Lowcock’s claims. “What is happening in Idlib makes a mockery of [UNSC] permanent state responsibilities,” she said in reference to Russia and its ability to veto any collective action by the council. She vowed that Syrian and Russian units that are proven to have bombed civilian sites will eventually be subject to international charges.

Russian Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia responded to all of this with a very strong statement charging that the real objective of such invective aimed at Russia is to protect Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the terrorist group that controls most of Idlib province “in order to use them as a tool against the legitimate Syrian authorities in the future.”

“The real matter of concern is the intensified activity of terrorists from ‘Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’ who attack civil population and make them victims of criminal provocations,” Nebenzia said. “Thereby we point out that jihadists enhance their military capacity through obtaining more ordnance of foreign production, i.e., air vehicles and multiple rocket launchers. Today Mark Lowcock humbly kept silent about the number of victims of these attacks by terrorists.” He reminded the council that HTS is Jabhat al-Nusra, a listed terrorist organization.

“It was said today that Russia launches deliberate airstrikes against hospitals and schools. This is lies.” Nebenzia went on. He suggested that Lowcock ought to go to Syria and visit the Russian Reconciliation Center “in order to verify information about the facilities that have gone through the deconfliction procedures and that we allegedly attack.” This, he said, is what ought to be done, “instead of spouting baseless allegations here at the Council that are verified by nobody and based on very doubtful, rather than ‘directly verified’ sources as we are told.”

“Besides—and we repeatedly stated it before—I cannot recall any statement made by either the High Commissioner on Human Rights or UN OCHA about the principles of ‘precaution and distinction’ when the coalition was ‘ironing’ and razing down to the ground such cities as Raqqa, Hajin and Mosul,” Nebenzia declared.

At the end, Nebenzia vowed that Russia will continue with its policy of seeking a political settlement in Syria, will continue to cooperate with Turkey on this, and will continue to work through the Astana process. “We urge not to impede our efforts by creating political ‘cover up’ for terrorists and their provocations,” he said.