The US-led coalition systematically destroys infrastructure in Syria and carries out airstrikes against civilians and the Syrian army, Russian envoy to the UN office in Geneva Alexei Borodavkin said at a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday.
"While hysteria is being whipped up around Aleppo, the US-led coalition has been systematically destroying infrastructure in government-controlled areas, delivering crushing strikes to civilians and the Syrian Army, and now seems to intend to squeeze Daesh terrorists from [the Iraqi city of] Mosul into Syria," he said.
The Iraqi government announced an operation to retake Mosul from Daesh, a group outlawed in Russia, on Monday and has been making rapid gains on several fronts. The US-led coalition supports the offensive.
The Syrian Amry claimed on Tuesday that the US and Saudi Arabia decided to allow Daesh terrorists pass into Syria from Mosul.
Borodavkin added that "certain countries continue placing stakes on terrorists and extremists, rendering them political and propaganda assistance, supplying them with arms and ammunition."
In September, the US-led coalition attacked the Syrian Army in Deir ez-Zor. The airstrikes by the coalition planes near the Deir ez-Zor airport were first reported by the Syrian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attacks. The US Central Command said that the Syrian forces were mistaken for Daesh terrorists. The attack killed more than 80 soldiers.
Five years after Libya’s longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was cold-bloodedly murdered right in front of mobile phone cameras and with the full backing of the Western nations participating in the 2011 military campaign against Libya, Sputnik talked to Abdel Baset bin Hamel, a journalist who was close to the late Libyan leader.
“The reforms in education, health care and infrastructure Muammar Gaddafi carried out in Libya for 43 years will forever remain part of this country’s history. The current crisis results from the fact that the changes, which have been taking place here [since 2011], are implemented by foreigners and with international support. All this has been the work of the great powers pursuing their own goals,” Abdel Baset bin Hamel said.
He added that in 2011 everyone was talking about protecting the people’s rights and that a pertinent resolution adopted by the UN Security Council allowed 43 countries to use military force to topple Gaddafi and his government.
“That the large-scale military operation against Libya was not meant to solve the crisis is fully evident now that people in Sirte and Benghazi are being slaughtered like cattle and billions of dollars have been stolen from the Libyan people,” Abdel Baset bin Hamel said.
He added that the 2011 Western military operation was meant to get rid of Gaddafi, not to solve the country’s problems.
“Gaddafi was the only one who pitched the idea of a united Africa and a single African army. Back in those days, Libya was the most independent country in the region, but the big powers, led by the US, got a pretext for 'protecting civilians and spreading democracy' in Libya. They used the young Libyans’ legitimate demands for better living conditions and new jobs to stoke up the conflict and Hillary Clinton was actively involved in the Western effort to topple Gaddafi,” Abdel Baset bin Hamel noted.
“It was not a revolution we had in Libya, it was a national catastrophe that has turned Libya into a failed state,” he added.
“We had no conflicts within our society and tribes and between our political factions. Gaddafi always managed to find a compromise to keep the nation together under one flag. He was a born leader and this is how people viewed him, rather than a top-level official. A real phenomenon, that’s what he was,” Abdel Baset bin Hamel said in conclusion.
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