Obama: Assad, Russia, Iran have blood on their hands

WASHINGTON

Responsibility for atrocities committed in Aleppo lies with Syria and its Russian and Iranian backers, US President Barack Obama has said as Damascus suspended the evacuation of civilians and fighters from the city’s last rebel-held areas.

Denouncing the “horror” in Aleppo, Obama called for impartial observers and warned President Bashar al-Assad that he would not “slaughter his way to legitimacy”.

“The world is united in horror at the savage assault by the Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian allies on the city of Aleppo,” he told an end-of-year news conference.

“This blood and these atrocities are on their hands.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier said Aleppo had become a synonym for hell.

“The United Nations urges all necessary measures for a safe resumption of the evacuation,” he said.

The Security Council could vote as early as this weekend on a French-drafted proposal to allow international observers in Aleppo and ensure aid deliveries.

US ambassador Samantha Power said after a closed-door council meeting UN officials were ready to be sent to Aleppo.

“The presence of independent observers can deter some of the horrors,” she said.

French ambassador Francois Delattre said: “The immediate priority is to save lives, to stop the massacres and to avoid a new Srebrenica,” referring to the massacre of Bosnian Muslims during the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin, however, argued that it would take weeks to send monitors to Aleppo.

Turkey and a Syrian military source said the evacuation from the city had been suspended but was not yet over, while Moscow insisted the operation was complete, with women and children moved from the city.

EVACUATION DELAYED

Amid the confusion, a convoy of evacuees that had already left the east when the operation was suspended turned back.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, supervising the evacuations, said it was looking into reports of shooting before the convoy was turned back.

The delicate operation to bring the last civilians and rebels out of east Aleppo began on Thursday and continued overnight, with thousands leaving in buses and ambulances.

It was abruptly suspended on Friday morning, with the government accusing rebels of violating terms of the deal.

State television said rebels tried to smuggle out heavy weapons and hostages.

Rebels accused the regime of suspending the operation in a bid to secure the evacuation of residents from Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages under rebel siege in northwest Syria.

The government and Iran have reportedly sought to add an evacuation of civilians from the villages to the terms of the Aleppo deal.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said pro-government fighters had blocked the road the convoy had been using and rebels were refusing the evacuation of residents of Fuaa and Kafraya.

Evacuating the last rebel pocket in Aleppo was scheduled to start on Wednesday, but was delayed by a day because of government objections.

Clashes resumed for hours before the deal was revived, and buses and ambulances began transporting evacuees to rebel territory in western Aleppo province.