Cameron: Syria Victims 'a Terrible Stain' for U.N.
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday that the blood of children killed in the Syria conflict had become a "terrible stain" on the reputation of the United Nations.
Cameron's comments were the latest in an onslaught by Western leaders pressing Russia and China to lift their veto on U.N. action against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"The future for Syria is a future without Assad," Cameron told the 193-member assembly where he highlighted a report this week which outlined the horror suffered by children who have seen killings and been tortured in the conflict.
"The blood of these young children is a terrible stain on the reputation of this United Nations," Cameron said.
"And in particular, a stain on those who have failed to stand up to these atrocities and in some cases aided and abetted Assad's reign of terror."
Russia and China have three times vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions which could have led to sanctions on Assad's government. Russia, Syria's main ally, and China have accused the West of seeking only regime change.
Cameron also pleaded for the international community to stick with the new governments which have emerged from the Arab revolutions.
"We cannot expect the damage of decades to be put right in a matter of months," he said.
"One year on, some believe that the Arab Spring is in danger of becoming an Arab Winter.
"They point to the riots on the streets, Syria's descent into a bloody civil war, the frustration at the lack of economic progress and the emergence of newly elected Islamist-led governments across the region."
Cameron said the doubters were wrong and that other countries should "keep the faith and redouble our support for open societies, and for people's demands for a job and a voice."
The British leader said that if the United Nations "is to have any value in the 21st Century we must now join together to support a rapid political transition" in Syria.
Cameron announced a new $12 million donation to international humanitarian efforts in Syria and appealed for other countries to give more.
"No one of conscience can turn a deaf ear to the voices of suffering. Security Council members have a particular responsibility to support the U.N. appeal for Syria," he said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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