UN chief Ban Ki-moon says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s “failure of leadership” caused the deaths of over 300,000 people, according to an interview released yesterday.
Asked by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle if he considered Assad a mass murderer, Ban said that question was for other institutions to answer.
He added, though: “It’s true that because of his failure of leadership so many people have died, more than 300,000 people have been killed.”
Ban also said he had urged US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia “to restore the cessation of hostilities, so we can deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance”.
“We have to deliver a minimum for the 5mn people who are in besieged areas and hard-to-reach areas,” he said.
The transcript was released by Deutsche Welle before the interview airs tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Syria’s main opposition group called yesterday for foreign allies to supply rebel forces with ground-to-air weapons to counter deadly air raids in Aleppo.
Gathered for two days of talks in the Saudi capital, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) umbrella group denounced the “scorched earth policy” of Assad and his allies.
Regime troops and Russian warplanes have intensified air strikes on Aleppo in recent weeks, killing dozens of civilians and raising widespread international concern.
HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet said after the talks that the opposition was counting on “brotherly countries and friends to lift the embargo on sophisticated weapons imposed on the opposition.”
Washington’s Arab allies, led by Saudi Arabia, have demanded that opposition rebels fighting Assad be given advanced weapons such as MANPADS -- shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.
Experts say this might alter the balance of power on the battlefield and make Damascus more ready to talk, but US officials worry the arms could fall into the hands of extremists.
Riyadh was instrumental in the formation late last year of the HNC, which unites an array of rebel and political opposition factions.