President arrives in New York

From Tendai Mugabe at the UNITED NATIONS, New York
PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday joined several leaders among them monarchs and kings for the official opening of the 68th session of the United General Assembly. The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces also attended the launch of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development that replaced the Commission on Sustainable Development.

The opening of the UNGA 68th session was widely dominated by the Syrian issue where Western sponsored rebels are fighting to unseat President Bashar al Assad.

In his opening speech, UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki moon bemoaned the massacre of civilians in Syria in the past two years. He said families in Syria were under siege as a result of the war which has raged on for more than two years resulting in most cities and towns being destroyed.

Mr Ban said more than 100 000 people had been killed while more than 7 million, which is half of the Syrian population, had fled their homes as a result of the war.

Mr Ban urged rival parties in Syria to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.

“They must lift all obstacles to humanitarian access and stop targeting medical facilities and personnel. They must release the tens of thousands of men, women and children whose detention has no basis at international law,” he said.

Mr Ban said it was important to destroy Syrian chemical weapons and also stop the war which has claimed many innocent lives.
He said the crisis in Syria required a political settlement rather than military solution.

“Military victory is an illusion. The only answer is a political settlement. I appeal to the Government of Syria, the opposition your Excellencies and all those in this hall with influence over them to facilitate the Geneva II conference,” said Mr Ban

Turning to world development, Mr Ban said the year 2015 was important since it was set as the target for the realisation of Millennium Development Goals.

“It is the year in which we will adopt a new development agenda and it is the year in which you have agreed to complete a global legal agreement on climate change,” he said.

US president Barrack Obama who initially agitated for military intervention in Syria insisted that the Assad regime was responsible for the use of chemical weapons that killed more than 1 000 people in Syria last month.