Arms flowing to both sides in Syrian conflict: U.N.’s Pillay

Source: Reuters 2 July 2012

The Syrian government and the rebels are receiving more and more weapons, which is fueling violence in a 16-month conflict that the United Nations says has killed more than 10,000 people, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Monday.

“The ongoing provision of arms to the Syrian government and to its opponents feeds additional violence,” Pillay said in the written text of remarks she made to the U.N. Security Council. “Any further militarization of the conflict must be avoided at all costs.”

“There is a risk of escalation,” she told reporters after the closed-door meeting.

Pillay said she was now calling the situation in Syria “a non-international internal armed conflict,” the legal term for a civil war. Once that term is used, diplomats say, it means the Geneva Conventions on armed conflict apply.

She did not say where the weapons were coming from, though Russia and Iran are among the Syrian government’s key suppliers. U.N. diplomats say Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been transferring arms to Syria’s increasingly militarized opposition.

Commenting on U.N. human rights chief’s statement, Ribal Al-Assad said:

“I welcome Ms Pillay’s statement. She is absolutely right that the ongoing provision of arms to both sides in the Syrian conflict feeds additional violence and any further militarization of the conflict must be avoided at all costs. If the arms continue to flow then an all out civil war will take place. This would be disastrous for Syria and the region. I call on all those supplying weapons to stop.

“I urge both sides in the Syrian conflict to halt the violence and give diplomacy a chance so we can move towards dialogue and a peaceful inclusive and democratic transition as that is the only way forward.”