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Syria asks UN council to uphold resolutions on Golan

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AFP United Nations
Last Updated : Mar 23 2019 | 4:00 AM IST

Syria on Friday asked the UN Security Council to uphold resolutions declaring that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights after President Donald Trump said the United States would recognize Israel's annexation of the territory.

Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari urged the council to "take practical measures to ensure that the council is fulfilling ... its mandate in the implementation of its resolutions" concerning the Golan, in a letter seen by AFP.

The council is scheduled to discuss the Golan on Wednesday during a meeting on renewing the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force deployed between Israel and Syria in the Golan, known as UNDOF.

Trump broke with decades of US Middle East policy when he posted a Tweet on Thursday that said it was time to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan.

In the letter, the Syrian ambassador also asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to reaffirm the UN position on Israel's occupation of the Golan, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Asked about Trump's stance, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said UN policy was based on council resolutions and those of the General Assembly on the status of the Golan.

"The resolutions are of course unchanged," said Haq. "Our policies have not changed in that regard."

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First Published: Mar 23 2019 | 4:00 AM IST

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