Four days before the opposition Syrian National Coalition elected Ghassan Hitto interim prime minister, he was directing humanitarian aid to areas of Syria now under the control of rebel forces.
Prior to his election, Hitto, a 50-year-old U.S.-educated technocrat, spoke to senior reporter David Arnold about the dire situation inside Syria. He said that most humanitarian aid for Syrian war victims does not reach the liberated zones because the Assad regime places restrictions on international organizations entering many “enemy” territories.
Selected Monday in Istanbul, Turkey, by the Syrian opposition to build a democratic government for a post-Assad are, Hitto briefly addressed the media. He said his government would continue to prosecute the war against the Assad regime and that he would refuse to negotiate with it.
Below are some highlights of what Hitto said last week about Syria, the conflict, the U.N. and its relief role. Listen to a fuller version of the interview in the sound file below.
Arnold: What are your immediate concerns?
Ghassan Hitto
Hitto: We are coming into a summer now where there are cities that have been filled with trash … we are concerned about diseases being spread in the coming months…. The Assad regime and his forces, they have been bombing the infrastructure with intent (and are) destroying power, water, sanitation, refuse collection and public health services in any of the cities that are under attack.
Arnold: How much will it cost to fix Syria?
Hitto: I think to cover one year of basic relief and basic necessities, we’re talking about three to five billion dollars. The issue is there isn’t enough aid to make the impact we would all like to see. Right now the amount of aid that is going to the Syrian people doesn’t satisfy the current need of the Syrian people. It doesn’t even come close.
Arnold: Why are Syrians suffering more in the north?
Hitto: Today, there isn’t a cross-border operation where the United Nations is able to operate from all borders. (Most agencies) operate through areas that are controlled by the regime. We’re asking the international community to push the U.N. and the Security Council to establish a cross-border operation which requires an agreement with the regime.
Arnold: What should the United Nations do now?
Hitto: The United Nations needs to meet the mandate of the member countries…. I don’t know if permission from Bashar al-Assad is required here… Whether Bashar al-Assad agrees to the cross-border operations or not - you are looking at half of the population of the north that needs aid and this aid is not coming through. And we are not going to wait – the war will not wait – until Bashar al-Assad says it’s okay. This is a matter of the Security Council doing the right thing …
Listen to a fuller version of our interview with Ghassan Hitto:
David Arnold
David Arnold coordinates the Syria Witness project at Middle East Voices and reports on Middle East and North Africa affairs for both Voice of America and MEV. The Syria Witness project publishes on-the-ground citizen reporting, giving Syrians the opportunity to offer to a global audience their first-person narratives of life on the streets of their war-torn country.