Speaker of the People’s Assembly, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, said the road to effective combating of terrorism is through cooperation with the Syrian government and the army.
Laham was addressing the 131st Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, currently held in Geneva.
Countering terrorism starts with confronting extremist thought and implementing the U.N. Security Council’s counter-terrorism resolutions, he added.
"Combating terrorism requires a halt to inflammatory media campaigns that spew violence, hatred, and extremism, as well as cooperation with the countries which are subject more than others to terrorism, and helping them defeat it," he said.
It also needs political solutions for domestic problems, urging the parties concerned to engage in dialogue instead of arming opposition groups and instigating violence and extremism, Laham said.
He said that the Syrian and Iraqi governments have the right to come up with means for combating terrorism, knowing that the Syrians and Iraqis have been at the receiving end of atrocities committed by ISIS, the Nusra Front, and the Islamic Army terrorist organizations.
The Speaker also pointed to Syria’s successes in the war against terrorism, saying "Syria could have routed terrorism entirely had it not been for the support provided to these organizations by well-known sources."
He urged the countries involved in backing terrorists in Syria to reverse their course, warning that their approach "will eventually backfire on the supporters and funders of terrorist organizations."
Commenting on the airstrikes launched by the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS positions, Laham said that some of its participant countries have helped terrorism to emerge in Syria and Iraq.
Laham played down the effectiveness of the airstrikes in eliminating terrorism, something which has been acknowledged by U.S. administration officials.
"The Coalition’s airstrikes won’t destroy ISIS, as was conceded by U.S. officials. They have not rolled back its advance on Ayn al-Arab city," the Speaker said, describing the campaign as "media propaganda led by the United States."
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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