The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdullah Al-Mouallimi told a Security Council debate on Tuesday that Syria should stop persecuting its own people, urging the council to lend support to the Arab League plan announced on Sunday, and noting that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia feels deeply pained by the suffering and pains of the brotherly Syrian people. “We call on the Syrian authorities to stop rebuffing the legitimate aspirations of its citizens by violence and bullets,” Al-Mouallimi said. He also called on the Syrian government to implement the Arab League initiative. “We hope the Syrian government will heed the voice of reason and wisdom and abide by the items of the Arab initiative to find a balanced political solution that achieves the aspirations of the Syrian people, preserves the unity and territorial integrity of Syria, and halts the cycle of violence and spare it foreign interference in its internal affairs,” Al-Mouallimi said. Al-Mouallimi also explained why the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to withdraw its observers from Syria, saying, “My country decided to withdraw its observers from the Arab Observer Mission to Syria because we did not feel the Syrian authorities were serious about the Arab initiative,” he said. “We rise above being witnesses and supporters of the practices of assassination and persecution imposed on the great Syrian people.” “It is high time for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities. The Security Council should hasten to take necessary decisions and resolutions on Syria,” Al-Mouallimi said.
