Jeffrey DiLaurentis, the US Acting Representative to the United Nations, said that the Bashar Assad regime did not seriously seek peace during the war years.
The American delegate accused the regime of committing atrocities, some of which amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
At the UN Security Council session on the political and humanitarian situation in Syria, DiLaurentis said that the Assad regime had refused to attend the meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee for the past eight months, and “attended badly after 9 rounds of meetings”. The belief is a clear reflection of Assad’s belief that he can fight the Syrian people or starve them until they yield.”
He said the regime “is content to stall and may seek better offers and concessions from the international community, but offers nothing to build confidence and prove that Damascus is willing to work for peace and stability”.
The US ambassador urged the Assad regime to “constructively engage in the Syrian-led political process facilitated by the United Nations in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254.”
He stated that the disaster of the earthquake did not make Assad “a statesman worth embracing” and that only real, comprehensive and irreversible reforms can achieve this.