Ban Ki-moon, Brahimi urge political solution to Syria crisis

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi have reiterated the need to “push even harder” for a political solution to end the bloodshed in Syria.Addressing world leaders at a working dinner held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in St. Petersburg for, Ban urged the leaders of the Permanent Five members of the Security Council as well as from some of the Council’ s non-permanent members to “discharge their responsibility fully and for the sake of the people of Syria.”He also reminded the Council members that they have a “collective responsibility to mankind” to act, reiterating that as they debate courses of action, any decision “should be taken within the framework of the UN Charter, as a matter of principle.”He urged the leaders gathered to fill the nearly US $4.4 billion gap for humanitarian and refugee efforts in Syria and neighboring countries – particularly Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey – as well as in North African. All of which had been “generous in hosting Syrian refugees.”Brahimi, the Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States for Syrian, who attended the G20 at Ban’s request. said that the Syrian crisis had reached such an “urgent” stage.