UN cannot feed one million hungry Syrians

GENEVA: The World Food Programme said yesterday it is unable to help 1 million Syrians who are going hungry.

This month, the agency aims to help 1.5 million of the 2.5 million Syrians that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent says need it, spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said.

The lack of security and the agency’s inability to use the Syrian port of Tartous for its shipment means that a large number of people in the some of the country’s hardest hit areas will not get help, she said.

“Our main partner, the Red Cross, is overstretched and has no more capacity to expand further,” Byrs said.

She also said that the agency has temporarily pulled its staff out of its offices in the Syrian cities of Homs, Aleppo, Tartous and Qamisly due to the rising dangers in those areas.

But in December, WFP was able to reach for the first time in many months some hard-to-reach areas near the Turkish border, she said.

The Syria crisis began with peaceful protests in March 2011 but has since shifted into a civil war. At least 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to a recent UN estimate. UN leader Ban Ki-moon said Monday that President Bashar Al Assad’s speech setting out his terms for peace would not help end “the terrible suffering” of the Syrian people.

“The secretary-general was disappointed that the speech by President Bashar Al Assad on January 6 does not contribute to a solution that could end the terrible suffering of the Syrian people,” said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

Ban and UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi are seeking a “political transition that includes the establishment of a transitional government and the holding of free and fair elections under the auspices of the United Nations,” Nesirky added.

After the latest Al Assad rebuff to his peace efforts, Brahimi will hold talks today with Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, whose country has been the only backer of Al Assad’s address to the nation.

Al Assad called for dialogue with opposition elements he deems acceptable, while vowing to stand fast against opponents he branded as foreign-backed “terrorists.” The speech has been widely condemned, with the United States calling it “detached from reality.”

“What the Syrian people desperately need at this time are real solutions to the crisis that is tearing their nation apart,” Ban said through his spokesman.

The UN leader criticized Al Assad for having “rejected the most important element” of a June 30 roadmap agreed by the main powers in Geneva that called for a political transition with the establishment of a transitional governing body.

“The United Nations remains committed to do its utmost, in cooperation with other partners, to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people inside and outside Syria,” the spokesman said.

“The United Nations will also continue to help the people of Syria fulfill their legitimate aspirations for peace, dignity, freedom, justice and democracy in a united and sovereign Syria.”

Ban reaffirmed that there could not be a military solution to the 22-month-old war and added that it was “critically urgent” for the international community to help the Syrian people build a “new and democratic Syria.”

The UN leader has several times shown exasperation at the UN Security Council’s failure to agree on a position on Syria. Russia and China have vetoed three Western-proposed resolutions that would have threatened sanctions against Assad.

Brahimi is expected to brief the UN Security Council this month, the UN spokesman said. He is also trying to organize new talks with US and Russian envoys in a bid to overcome differences on Syria.

The UN envoy was due to hold talks in Cairo on Monday with the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar ahead of his meeting with Iran’s foreign minister Wednesday. The UN had originally said the meeting with Salehi was on Tuesday.

The spokesman said he was unaware of any plan by Brahimi to return to Damascus.