Russia blasts UN for ignoring suffering Syrian civilians in rebel held areas

Condemning Syria's "barbaric" sieges, the United Nations demanded Friday immediate access to besieged towns to deliver food, medicine and other life-saving aid to civilians facing starvation.

"There can be no reason or rational, no explanation or excuse, for preventing aid from reaching people," UN aid official Kyung-Wha Kang told an emergency Security Council meeting on ending the blockades.

However, Syrian ally Russia complained that much attention was focused on Madaya, with Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov saying "not a word" was said about the other towns under rebel siege.

France and Britain requested the urgent talks after reports emerged of dozens of people who have died from starvation in the town of Madaya, where aid deliveries finally arrived this week.

A total of 35 people have died there since early December, according to medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which warned a dozen more patients "could die very soon if they are not evacuated.".............http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/99336-160116-russia-blasts-un-for-ignoring-suffering-syrian-civilians-in-rebel-held-areas
16/1/16
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