The head of Syria’s government delegation to the Moscow II forum, Bashar al-Jaafari, has announced the approval of a set of points proposed by Russian moderator Vitaly Naumkin as a schedule for the second round of talks.
In a speech during the first session on Wednesday, Jaafari said the Syrian government looks for a “clear and unambiguous” position from its “partners in the opposition” with real actions that live up to the national responsibility.
“The compass of our meeting is the interest of the Syrian people and ending their suffering,” said Jaafari, adding that the Syrian government has been working to realize this goal through combating terrorism and making the necessary reforms towards a better future.
He called on the opposition to work with the government to hold a national dialogue to discuss suitable formulas and mechanisms necessary to fulfilling the higher national interests of the Syrian state.
Jaafari stressed national dialogue is the only way to a successful political solution.
However, he said, such a solution is susceptible to being undermined by terrorism.
Jaafari lashed out at the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, France, the US and other countries for failure to abide by UN Security Council resolutions 2170, 2178 and 2199 – prohibiting the recruiting, funding, training, arming, harboring of terrorists and facilitating their passage into Syrian and Iraqi territories.
The delegate made clear that terrorism in Syria can no longer be denied after more than four years of the crisis.
“The question to be asked now: Is there anyone of us here who disagrees with us about classifying what is taking place [in Syria] as other than criminality, piracy and systematic terrorism?” Jaafari asked.
The representative cited attacks against infrastructure, factories, museums, archeological sites, oil and gas pipelines, electricity plants, transportation means, schools, hospitals, health centers and places of worship as examples of undeniable acts of terrorism in Syria.
