Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem said what Syria's official delegation to the Geneva conference perfomed its national duty, unlike what every other member of the Syrian Arab Army is doing in the framework of combating terrorism.
Mouallem was addressing the People's Assembly during a session on Wednesday in which he presented a political review of the latest developments related to the crisis in Syria.
''We did not take part in drafting Geneva I communique or the preparations for the Geneva II conference. It was foreign ministers of Russia, U.S. and the U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi who held several meetings,'' the foreign minister said.
''We were surprised the majority of the 40-country list of invitees to the conference were those involved in the conspiracy against Syria,'' he added.
He described as "shameful" the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's withdrawal of an invitation to Iran to attend the conference twelve hours after extending it. ''He did wrong to himself and the U.N. by doing so,'' Mouallem said.
The Syrian delegation insisted on making the most of participation in Geneva II by bringing the suffering of the Syrian people to the attention of all the countries that attended, Mouallem pointed out.
''Especially when t we realized we were on a hostile turf designed to be as such, with up to 100 TV channels and one thousand journalists assembled at the media center to back the so-called 'Coalition's delegation','' he said.
"The Coalition's delegation came with clear instructions and promises that bordered on illusions that it will be taking power through Geneva II, shrugging off the idea of discussing any topic other than what they called ''the transitional governing body,' Moallem said.
The political principles' document that the Syrian delegation presented included Syrians' demands in establishing an independent and sovereign state with a pluralistic democratic system that guarantees the freedom of opinion and belief as well as protecting social fabric, rejects foreign intervention and calls for the liberation of all Syrian lands under occupation, he said.
''We were surprised the other side rejected the document and insisted on discussing transitional governing body,'' Mouallem continued.
''They also rejected another sheet that included general ideas about a commitment to combating terrorism, banning funds and arms transfers to terrorists and a draft communiqué to a condemn U.S. Congress agreement on financing the so-called moderate opposition," he added.
"The Coalition's delegation came to the conference with the idea of abolishing the constitution and replacing it with a constitutional declaration, ignoring mechanism for abolishing the constitution, amending it or drafting a new one."
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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