A source close to the Syrian President Bashar Assad has told al-Rai newspaper that that Hezbollah forces in Syria “are at the request of the Syrian state and will withdraw immediately and without any delay, after the elimination of foreign and Arab fighters in Syria.”
In what appeared to be a response to the description Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who described Hezbollah as an “occupying force” at a press conference alongside his American counterpart John Kerry in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Syrian source said that "in Syria, there are groups from 80 nationalities and no one asked them to come to kill Syrian people, destroy their institutions and waste their wealth.”
The source spoke about "the presence of more than 4,800 Saudis in Syrian territory”, as well as “3,000 Palestinians, 2,700 Tunisians, 2,000 Algerians, 800 Chechens and 350 Kuwaitis” in addition to “1,300 Europeans and Americans and 1,100 Indonesians, 400 Afghans and 4,500 Iraqis from Anbar and other regions."
The source said Hezbollah “is directly affected by the conflict in Syria because Lebanon is on the borders of Syria and because of the presence of fundamental groups that move freely between the two countries," adding that "when the time comes to withdraw, this cohesive and committed force (Hezbollah) will withdraw immediately.”
The question is, he said: “If Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and all other countries that have groups fighting in Syria, led by Europe and the United States, requested the withdrawal of these groups, will they do so?”
The source said that "90 percent of ISIS consists of foreign forces, along with the Nusra Front, belongs to Al-Qaeda and occupies more than 30 percent of Syrian territory”.
If we went to Geneva 2 and we decided an immediate ceasefire, does the Coalition, which al-Faisal claims that it represents all the opposition,have the power of commitment to the cease – fire and of imposing it on ISIS and al-Nusra?
We will wait to see and laugh a little at the novice in politics,hoping that they may remove the mist from their eyes and practice realisticdiplomacy, despite the 38 years they spent in foreign policy".
The source added "We agree that half-solutions are unacceptable and we are working to remove all the terrorists from Syria and the war will not stop until we remove them all.On the other hand, we are ready to share all Syrian opposition categories that are willing to sit with us at the negotiating table to get out of the war and to rebuild the country and eliminate terrorism, and to prepare for the parliamentary and presidential elections without restrictions or conditions".
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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