Related News
UN chief seeks Iranian president’s help
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping’s speech at United Nations headquarters on Saturday came as the UN gathering began to shift focus from development to the high-powered General Assembly meeting that begins today with speeches by Xi, US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Obama and Putin will meet today but the prospects of a meeting between Obama and Rouhani remained unclear.
When Rouhani arrived in New York on Saturday he was immediately encouraged by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to have Iran step up to help achieve political settlements to the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, where Iran has influence. The Islamic republic is a top ally of the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and supports Shiite Houthi rebels who have held parts of Yemen for months.
Meanwhile, a key Jordanian leader said world leaders needed to pay attention to a refugee crisis that is spiralling out of control.
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Najib Fakhoury made an impassioned plea at the UN summit for the world’s countries to take in more Syrian refugees to help his country which has been overwhelmed by those fleeing the conflict there.
Fakhoury said Jordan’s efforts were akin to the US having to absorb 64 million more people, or the European Union 100 million, or China 280 million.
Lebanon Prime Minister Tammam Salam made a similar plea, telling the UN the Syrian refugee crisis was costing his country a third of its gross domestic product and strangling development.
Salam said the Syrian civil war and fleeing refugees “is one of the greatest development challenges” facing Lebanon. The Mediterranean country has become home to more than 1.2 million Syrian refugees — about a third of its native population.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
