UK urges Syrian regime to abide by Geneva track

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday urged the Syrian regime to comply with the track of the Geneva Communique and contribute to the efforts aiming to find and end to the conflict. Updating Parliament on the situation in Syria, Hague said: "On Saturday the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2139 on Humanitarian Assistance, which the United Kingdom called for and co-sponsored. "This is the first Resolution adopted by the Security Council on the humanitarian crisis since the start of the conflict three years ago, and it was agreed unanimously. "It demands an immediate end to the violence, the lifting of sieges of besieged areas, and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid including, importantly, across borders where necessary --" "The passing of this Resolution is an important achievement, but it will only make a practical difference if it is implemented in full. We will now work with the United Nations and our partners to try to ensure that the regime's stranglehold on starving people is broken. "The UK continues to set an example to the world on humanitarian assistance. Our contribution to the Syrian people now stands at 600 million (sterling) pounds; 241 million pounds allocated for humanitarian assistance inside Syria, 265 million pounds to support refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt; and 94 million pounds of allocations currently being finalised," he noted. "We have pressed for other countries to do more, including at the Kuwait Conference last month that resulted in more than USD 2.2 billion in new pledges," the foreign secretary went on. "The Security Council Resolution is a chink of light in an otherwise bleak and deteriorating situation. An estimated 5,000 Syrians are dying every month. A quarter of a million remain trapped in areas under siege. "The bombardment of civilian areas with barrel bombs continues unabated, and there are reports of attacks with cluster munitions as well. An Inquiry led by distinguished British experts reported on the photos of the bodies of around 11,000 tortured and executed Syrian detainees. "Two and a half million Syrians are refugees in the region, three quarters of them women and children. The UN expects 4 million refugees by the end of this year. "Against this horrifying backdrop we continue to seek a negotiated settlement to the conflict. But there is no sign of the Assad regime having any willingness whatsoever to negotiate the political transition demanded by the UN Security Council," he noted. "The second round of Geneva II negotiations ended on 15th February without agreement on future talks. UN and Arab League Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi had proposed an agenda for a third round of talks focussing on violence and terrorism - the regime's stated priority - and a Transitional Governing Body, in parallel. "The regime refused this. As a result the talks were suspended with Mr Brahimi clearly laying responsibility for this at the regime's door. "The National Coalition, by contrast, approached the negotiations constructively and in good faith. They published a statement of principles for the Transitional Governing Body, stating that it would enable the Syrian people to decide their own future and protect the rights and freedoms of all Syrians. "Those supporting the regime side, including the Russian and Iranian governments, need to do far more to press the regime to take this process seriously and to reach a political settlement, as we have done with the opposition. "The UK is also proposing a 2 million pound package of training, technical assistance and equipment support to build-up the capacity of the Free Syria Police, working with the US and Denmark. "I have laid before Parliament a minute to approve 910,000 (pounds) of equipment, including communications equipment, uniforms and vehicles for the Free Syrian Police. "We also intend to make a contribution to the Syria Recovery Trust Fund, established by the UAE and Germany, focusing on healthcare, water supply, energy supply and food security. "And we are working with the Supreme Military Council to agree the best way of restarting our non-lethal support, which we halted temporarily in December. The regime's foot-dragging is also clear on the removal of chemical weapons from Syria. According to the OPCW, only 11 percent of Syria's declared chemical stockpile has been removed, and the regime has missed the 5th of February deadline for removing all chemicals. "This has delayed the destruction operation by months and puts the 30th of June final destruction deadline in jeopardy," he added.