William Hague admits divided G8 ‘has failed’ over Syria conflict

 

Reuters,Ap
Thursday 11 April 2013 20:58 BST
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Foreign ministers from the G8 failed to patch up deep divisions over Syria during a meeting in London.

William Hague, speaking after talks with his counterparts, admitted the world had failed to resolve Syria’s two-year-old conflict, in which an estimated 70,000 people have been killed. “The United Nations Security Council has not fulfilled its responsibilities because it is divided,” the Foreign Secretary said. “That division continues. Have we solved that division at this meeting? No. We didn’t expect to. But the world has failed in its responsibilities and continues to do so.”

Leaders of the Syrian National Coalition were present on the sidelines of the London meeting to ask for more humanitarian help.

In their statement, the ministers called for “greater humanitarian assistance and for improved and safe access to the Syrian people by humanitarian agencies”.

In a sign of the deteriorating situation in the country, a US-based rights group accused Syria of committing war crimes by indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate air strikes against civilians, killing at least 4,300 people since last summer.

Human Rights Watch said Syrian fighter jets have targeted bakeries, bread lines and hospitals in the country’s north. “The aim of the air strikes appears to be to terrorise civilians from the air,” Ole Solvang of the New York-based group told the Associated Press.

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