Arab League chief demands end of politicization of aid to Syria

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Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Monday called on the world to stop politicizing aid to Syria, as the country is struggling with the disastrous consequences of the deadly earthquakes that ravaged its north.

"Arab countries have been sending lots and lots of assistance, but that is not enough. The world has really to be mobilized in order to help these two nations, Syria as well as Turkey," Aboul Gheit told a press conference in Brussels.

The Arab League chief underlined that the locals needed large-scale help in the wake of the disaster, calling on the international community to refrain from politicizing aid and remove obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria because of the EU's sanctions.

"That is apart from any political course on Syria... there has to focus on assistance, and the Syrian borders have really to be opened for all kinds of assistance to everybody," Aboul Gheit added.

Chinese Foreign Ministery spokesman Wang Wenbin earlier today called on the United States to immediately lift all illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Syria and to put aside Washington's "geopolitical calculations."

The US Treasury Department announced Thursday a temporary lifting of some Syria-related sanctions following calls from the Syrian state and the international community in the aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude that struck Syria and Turkey.

In a statement, the Department indicated that the move "authorizes for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations."

According to the statement, the license includes "the processing or transfer of funds on behalf of third-country persons to or from Syria in support of the transactions."

The Treasury Department's late temporary lifting of some Syria-related sanctions came days after some 4,000 Syrians were killed as a result of Monday's devastating earthquake after rescue operations were hindered due to the lack of heavy machinery and medical supplies and the poor infrastructure in certain areas.

UN World Food Programme Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Corinne Fleischer said that some sanctions imposed on Syria must be lifted so that the humanitarian community could deliver medicines and fertilizers to the country.

On Thursday, as well, the United Nations stressed the need for avoiding the politicization of aid to earthquake victims in Syria, calling on the United States and the European Union to ensure there would be no "impediments" to the relief process.

"Emergency response must not be politicized," Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told reporters in Geneva, saying aid is needed to get to state-controlled areas, as well as those controlled by militants.

In the same context, the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies said US draconian sanctions against Syria raise prices and hamper humanitarian operations.

Syria wound up dismissing the US sanctions waiver as "misleading".

"The misleading decision taken by the US administration to temporarily ease some of the cruel and unilateral sanctions on the Syrian nation is out of sham and hypocrisy and is no different from previous gestures meant to convey an erroneous humanitarian impression," said the Syrian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

"While the sanctions waiver is proclaimed to allow the flow of humanitarian aid, the realities on the ground prove the opposite," Damascus added.