\n International donors on Wednesday pledged $6.0 billion in aid for Syria this year at a conference overshadowed by a suspected deadly chemical attack blamed by the West on Damascus.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Brussels meeting, co-chaired by the European Union and United Nations, was a follow-up to a meeting last year in London which raised $12 billion (10.1 billion euros) in all for humanitarian aid programmes.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Our conference is sending a powerful message, we are not letting down the people of Syria,\" EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides told delegates.\n<\/p>\n
\n Announcing the new pledges to applause from those at the meeting, he added: \"Thank you so much. It is an impressive figure.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Stylianides did not clarify if the funding was new, or if it included some funds previously pledged by the international community for war-torn Syria.\n<\/p>\n
\n In London last year, donors put together two $6.0 billion tranches in aid, one for 2016 and the other to cover the period to 2019.\n<\/p>\n
\n The two-day Brussels meeting brought together some 70 countries and aid groups who also wanted to show support for UN-sponsored peace talks between the rebels and Russian-backed President Bashar al-Assad.\n<\/p>\n
\n Wednesday's session was dominated by news that at least 72 civilians including 20 children had been killed in a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib province.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'War crimes in Syria' -\n<\/p>\n
\n UN chief Antonio Guterres said \"the horrific events of yesterday demonstrate unfortunately that war crimes are going on in Syria.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This conference must represent a moment of truth where the international community\" finally comes together to settle the war and give the Syrian people hope, he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told delegates it was \"impossible for us to ignore the horrific attack\" and pointed the finger of blame firmly at Damascus.\n<\/p>\n
\n Johnson and other delegates repeatedly urged all parties to the conflict and their backers to condemn the attack and the use of chemical weapons.\n<\/p>\n
\n The war has claimed more than 320,000 lives since anti-Assad protests descended into a full-blown civil war in 2011, with five million Syrians fleeing the country and most of the remaining population being displaced.\n<\/p>\n
\n Most of the refugees have ended up in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.\n<\/p>\n
\n The UN warned Tuesday that the plight of the refugees was becoming \"desperate,\" with only 433 million euros out of a needed 4.7 billion euros pledged so far.\n<\/p>\n
\n The UN estimated another 3.4 billion euros was needed for humanitarian aid in Syria.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Ticking time-bomb' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri urged donors to \"invest in peace.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Ladies and gentlemen, the current situation in Lebanon is a ticking time-bomb,\" he told the conference.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Brussels conference was not meant to address the key sticking point of Assad's future role in the Geneva talks.\n<\/p>\n
\n The rebels and their backers demand that Assad stand down but Moscow and Tehran show no sign of abandoning their long-time ally.\n<\/p>\n
\n Assad's main backer Russia, which is also represented at the Brussels conference, said Tuesday's attack happened after a Syrian air strike hit a \"terrorist warehouse\" containing \"toxic substances.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini admitted it was \"surreal especially today\" to be discussing the \"post-conflict situation.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"But if you want peace you have to start building peace and the conditions for peace\", she said, urging a \"strong push to the political talks in Geneva.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Delegates made clear that aid for reconstruction would not be forthcoming until there was a genuine political transition to a new Syrian government without Assad.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Our publics will not accept that their money go in any way to those responsible for these crimes,\" Johnson said, referring to the Idlib attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International donors on Wednesday pledged $6.0 billion in aid for Syria this year at a conference overshadowed by a suspected deadly chemical attack blamed by the West on Damascus. The Brussels meeting, co-chaired by the European Union and United Nations, was a follow-up to a meeting last year in London which raised $12 billion (10.1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-32792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n