Syria questions integrity of U.N. council

• Tweet

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 27 (UPI) -- The Syrian envoy to the U.N. Human Rights Council said it was wrong to politicize the conflict while some parties were arming members of the opposition.

The U.N. Human Rights Council met Wednesday to discuss the ongoing crisis Syria. Eileen Donahoe, the U.S. envoy to the council, said as many as 15,000 people may have died as a result of the 15-month conflict in Syria.

Syria is accused of committing war crimes against its people. Last month, more than 100 people were killed allegedly at the hands of Syrian forces in the village of Houla. Damascus, however, says it's defending itself against terrorist groups aided by outsiders.

"How could some sides pretend to be worried about the Syrian people and at the same time arm the terrorists and conspire against the Syrians," Syrian envoy to the council Faisal al-Hamwi was quoted by the official Syrian Arab News Agency as saying.

U.S. and Arab officials told The New York Times last week on condition of anonymity that CIA officers were assessing which factions of the Syrian opposition would receive weapons from Arab allies.

Despite the Syrian downing of a Turkish military jet, however, there have been few serious calls for military intervention.

Russia, which stands opposed to formal U.N. action, said the Syrian people should be responsible for their own future.