Denmark delivers message from Syrian opposition

Opposition calls on UN Security Council to secure and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons and prosecute those responsible for the sarin gas attacks

Denmark delivered an “important letter” to the UN Security Council yesterday on behalf of the opposition group the Syrian National Coalition.

The foreign minister, Villy Søvndal (Socialistisk Folkeparti), confirmed to Politiken newspaper that he delivered the letter, which responds to the UN’s findings earlier this week about the use of sarin gas in the Syrian civil war.

According to Politiken, coalition president Ahmad al-Jarba writes in the letter that the Security Council needs to take control of and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons and prosecute those responsible for the gas attacks in the International Criminal Court.

“If the efforts to stop the conflict are not intensified, the UN’s moral authority will fall while the region’s humanitarian catastrophe, which has already impacted the lives of millions of Syrians, will worsen,” al-Jarba states in a section of the letter published by Politiken.

An important letter
The opposition group needed Søvndal to deliver the letter because it is not a member of the UN and is therefore unable to send the letter directly to the Security Council.

“It’s an important letter and we want to make sure it reaches the Security Council because it spells out constructive ideas that Denmark generally supports,” Søvndal told Politiken.

READ MORE: Søvndal: "Syria needs to deliver on its promise"

“We consider the Syrian National Coalition to be a legitimate representative for the Syrian people and the best offer we have yet seen for a replacement for [Bashar al-] Assad following his hopefully imminent departure,” he continued.

According to Politiken, the UK, France, Germany and Italy have all delivered letters to the Security Council on behalf of the Syrian National Coalition.

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