On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Muallem met delegates participating in the Executive Committee of the World Peace Council and the International Young Democrat Union (IYDU).
Minister Muallem voiced appreciation for the Committee’s decision to hold its annual conference in Damascus.
“For more than seven years, we have been in a real war against terrorism, and today we can see the signs of victory despite all Western and American attempts to prolong the crisis,” he said.
He noted that despite the agreement that established a demilitarized zone in Idleb, there are still terrorists in the area, which shows that Turkey isn’t serious about fulfilling its obligations, and Idleb city is still under the control of terrorists.
Muallem said that the US and its “International Coalition” killed thousands of unarmed Syrian civilians, as the US is in fact fighting everyone in Syria except the Islamic State (ISIS), which it actually sponsors, citing what happened to Raqqa city as proof.
He went on to say that under the pretext of supporting Syrian Kurds, the US has established bases in the north of Syria and a base in al-Tanf in the south, which is actually used to reorganize ISIS terrorists to fight the Syrian Arab Army.
The Minister asserted that Syria is working diligently to find a political solution for the crisis, taking part in all meetings held in Geneva, Sochi, and Astana, as well as participating in the efforts to establish a constitutional committee.
He noted that UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura attempted to form the list of civil society representatives in the aforementioned committee on his own, which was rejected by Syria as the constitution is a sovereign issue in which there can be no foreign interference.
“The political solution is intra-Syrian, and we will not allow anyone to interfere in our national affairs,” Muallem asserted.
Addressing questions and points raised by the members of the delegations, Muallem said that Syria made the return of displaced people a priority, as it works to rehabilitate the infrastructure, towns and villages so that the displaced can return and live decent lives.
He said that Syria is coordinating with Russia regarding Idleb, whether that issue would be resolved through war or reconciliation, citing the Russian President’s statement in Ankara in which he said that the Idleb agreement is temporary, and that the Syrian state has the right to extend its sovereignty across all Syrian territory.
The Minister said that Syria isn’t in a hurry regarding the reconstruction program, because it will not permit those who are involved in shedding Syrian blood to participate in this program.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
