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Brazil’s foreign minister supports no longer sending weapons to Syria
Criado em 16/09/13 19h53
e atualizado em 18/09/13 14h34
Por Carolina Sarres
Edição:s
Fonte:Agência Brasil
Brasília – Brazil’s foreign minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo advocated cutting off the supply of weapons to Syria during a press conference that took place at Itamaraty, the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, on Monday (September 16): “We support the immediate suspension of weapon supplies to Syria, which has only made the humanitarian drama worse, caused more deaths, and increased the number of refugees. This is a problem that should be properly tackled. We’re undoubtedly expecting the Security Council to agree to interrupt this flow.”
According to the minister, this should be the main topic to be addressed by the UN Security Council. However, he explained that there were no specific negotiations on the matter.
The UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria, headed by Brazilian diplomat Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, released a report on Monday (September 16) which shows that, in spite of the verified use of chemical weapons, most deaths during the conflict were caused by conventional fire weapons.
Meanwhile, foreign minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo understands that the document shows there was blatant violation of human rights in the country on both parts – the government, and also the opposition, which is represented by the Free Syrian Army – and that the number of crimes rose as the crisis grew more and more serious over the last few weeks.
He also argued for a political solution to the problem, as opposed to a military one – just as the problem is addressed in the report issued by the UN Commission of Inquiry: “Now is the time to invest in diplomacy for a long-lasting state of peace. It’s time to abandon any plans for foreign military intervention, which would only make things worse,” and praised the US and Russia for their newly established agreement.
Figueiredo also recognized Syria’s positive attitude in agreeing to subscribe to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), mentioning the country's sovereignty and the need for the international community to accept Syria’s own solutions to the conflict.
He further stated that the large number of people of Syrian descent in Brazil entitles the country to take part in the negotiations for peace: “We’re a country particularly sensitive to what’s been happening in Syria. From our point of view, this enables us to participate actively in the search for solutions through dialogue.”
According to the minister, Brazil is willing to contribute to the success of the Geneva II International Conference, which aims at bringing Syria’s government and its opposition together in an attempt to find a solution to the conflict. The solution is to be agreed upon in further detail during the United Nations Annual Conference scheduled to take place in New York at the end of the month. “As we prepare for [Geneva II], we’ll talk to our partners. Possible contributions from Brazil have already been taken into consideration.”
Editors:Talita Cavalcante / Lícia Marques
Translators: Fabrício Ferreira / Mayra Borges
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