A senior UN official on Friday voiced his deep concerns at the great pains which the Syrian people are suffering in the long-standing violence in the Middle East country, saying that "a peaceful, political solution is vital in saving lives" in Syria and "that solution belongs to the Syrian people."

Adama Dieng, the special adviser of the UN secretary-general on the prevention of genocide, made the statement when he was speaking to a group of reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York.

"We are concerned today entire communities may suffer the consequences of the actions of the (Syrian) government and a peaceful, political solution is vital in saving lives and promoting peaceful coexistence between Syrian communities," Dieng said.

At least 20,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the political crisis broke out in Syria in March 2011. The conflict has spawned more than 500,000 refugees, while an estimated four million people inside the country need urgent humanitarian assistance.

"I do not believe definitely that in this crisis one needs to get a military victory one camp to another," he said. "I think we should really be concerned about the situation of the people of Syria, what needs to be done. And as soon as the result can be achieved, the better."

"But still as I said, my mandate is there also to make sure that whenever we reach a situation where this sectarian violence is becoming a serious concern, I have to express it," he said.

Dieng, in a statement issued here Tuesday night, has warned of the increasing risk of sectarian violence in Syria, and called on all parties to the conflict to refrain from targeting individuals or groups based on religious or ethnic identity.

"As the situation in Syria deteriorates further, there is a growing risk that civilian communities, including Alawite and other minorities perceived to be associated with the Government, its security forces, militias and allies could be subject to large scale reprisal attacks," he said in the statement.

Dieng, who is from Senegal, was appointed by UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon on July 17 as the special adviser on the prevention of genocide. Prior to his appointment, he served as registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda from 2001 to 2012.

"And today we are of course extremely concerned about the ongoing bloodshed in Syria, including the indiscriminate nature of the violence, the gross human rights violations and abuses committed by the government and rebel forces and the risk of sectarian violence and violence against minority groups such as the Alawite." Dieng said in his meeting with the group of UN-based reporters here.

"So far, there is, of course, faithful hope that the progress in the negotiation will achieve something, but I would also add that in any case, repeating myself, one should not look for a military victory and we should also make sure that we insist that on all sides to uphold the principles, to respect international humanitarian law, to respect human rights law and this on both sides -- government, military as well as the rebel forces," he said.

"It is true that the government of Syria has failed to protect its own population, but at the same time I cannot but also insist on every single actor in this process to realize that we have really reached such a high number of victims that we can no longer continue to watch this situation," he said. "Let's make sure that everybody gets together and really cease the tragedy."

"And the consequences of no solution of this crisis may be also fatal to the situation in the neighboring countries," he said. " Already the neighboring countries have been very generous by opening their boundaries to allow these Syrians fleeing their country to have refuge."

The ongoing violence in Syria has prompted a massive influx of refugees into Syria's neighboring countries, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

On the UN role in helping bring an end to the Syrian conflict, he said: "It's not easy, one may wonder what would happen tomorrow, tomorrow once a solution is reached. I should say that we are also working on that. Because always one has to prevent. Preventing is better than curing."

"It is extremely important that we make sure that the people of Syria get together and be one people, one nation," he said. "And before that, you need to try to wipe out all type of hate, which might be in their minds and their hearts."

"We hope that tomorrow there will be a possibility to organize community, to make sure that nothing tragic could happen," he said. "Because today we are facing as I said so many killings, but tomorrow also, if something is not done immediately that could happen. And that's where I say the UN will be ready to make sure that things happen. But let's not be that naive."

Meanwhile, Dieng also said that he wants to visit the Middle East, including Syria, in order to get his voice heard by all relevant parties on the ground.

"I'm planning to make a visit in the entire region including, of course, Syria because I do believe that it is extremely important to engage the Arab League," he said.