Russia, Peru and Ecuador join voices on Syria

“The principle of non-interference has been adopted and advocated by the United Nations and Peru means to keep to it in the Syrian case,” Peru's Deputy Foreign Minister José Beraún Araníbar told the Voice of Russia. He also underlined Peru saw a political dialogue as the only viable means of peace enforcement and supported a joint UN/Arab League initiative to this effect.

Ecuadorian Deputy Foreign Minister Marco Vinicio Albuja Martínez said in his interview to the Voice of Russia the Rafael Correa administration “respected and adhered to the principle of nations’ self-identification,” and urged to let the Syrian people find a peaceful solution to the crisis on their own. Mr. Albuja Martínez added Quito wouldn’t support a military intrusion into Syria, whatever the pretext, saying that “military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya proved to be catastrophic” for these countries.

UN official condemns damage to historical monuments in Syria

Chairman of the UN International Commission of Inquiry for Syria Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro has blamed both sides of the Syrian conflict for the damage the war had done to the national monuments of architecture.

Speaking at a briefing in Geneva he said that the war was threatening the unique buildings of the city of Aleppo known for its medieval markets and mosques. He stressed that many historical moments in the city of Homs had already been destroyed or damaged.

Del Ponte confirms war crimes in Syria

Carla del Ponte, a member of a UN commission investigating rights abuses in Syria, said Thursday that war crimes and crimes against humanity were happening in war-torn Syria.

"The similarity of course is that we are... (dealing) with the same crimes, crimes against humanity and war crimes for sure," del Ponte told reporters in Geneva, in response to a question on how the current probe resembled her previous experience, which includes working on both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Voice of Russia, TASS, AFP