Addis Ababa, April 16 (IANS) The African Union Commission (AUC) has called on world powers to undertake international efforts to solve the Syrian civil war that respects the territorial integrity of Syria.
The statement by the AUC chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat on Sunday said while he condemns the use of chemical weapons, primacy should be given to international efforts to find lasting political situation for Syrian civil war solely based on the interests of Syrian people, Xinhua reported.
"Africa expects the United Nations Security Council members (UNSC), especially those that are permanent, to put aside their differences and spare no efforts in the pursuit of global peace and humanity's common good, in line with the responsibilities conferred upon them by the United Nations Charter," said the AU statement.
"AU is strongly committed to multilateralism, underlines that any response to such acts ought to be based on incontrovertible evidence gathered by a competent, independent and credible entity and comply strictly with international law, including the primacy of the UNSC for any recourse to force," further said the statement.
On Saturday morning, the US, France and UK conducted airstrikes on Syrian government targets following reports of alleged chemical weapons use in Douma, near the capital city Damascus on April 7.
The Syrian government has strongly denied the allegation, calling for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send a fact-finding mission for investigations. However, the three nations carried out the strike on the day the mission just arrived in Damascus.
Key Syrian government allies Iran and Russia have condemned the strikes calling it a flagrant aggression of international law.
