Beijing, SANA-Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem said Syria has repeatedly warned, over the past three years, of the wave of terrorism sweeping the region.
“For the past three years, Syria has repeatedly warned that the horrific terrorist onslaught on its will would eventually affect the whole region,” al-Moallem said in an article published Thursday by the Chinese Global Times newspaper.
Commenting on the situation in Iraq which saw large chunks of territory fall to the draconian rule of terrorists from the “Islamic State”, formerly known as the “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”, al-Mlallem said that “What’s happening today in Iraq is the result of the cold calculation of the Western powers: Let terrorism wreak havoc in Syria while claiming that it is a war for freedom and democracy,”
Al-Moallem added that Islamist jihadis from all across the world, at least 80,000 of them, have joined the most radical Wahhabi jihadis in Syria in an insane, bloody, destructive and futile war. ”
He said that Well known regional powers, backed by the US and its Western allies, are turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the terrorist groups, not only against innocent men, women and children, but also against every economic, industrial and cultural institution in Syria.
“This barbaric war against Syria’s citizens and infrastructure aims at pushing Syria back to the dark ages,” al-Moallem stated.
Al-Mollem pointed out that “as long as the Western powers and their regional allies continue providing terrorists with arms, money, logistical support and diplomatic legitimacy, the violence will not recede in Syria”, wondering as to “How many more people must die before they rescind this policy?”
The Western powers refuse to admit that by supporting the terrorist groups and their destructive war they are actually inflicting intolerable human suffering on the Syrians and perpetuating the refugees’ problems, al-Moallem said.
Al-Moallem said there must be admitting the fact that a political resolution to the crisis is the only way out, affirming that Syria is seeking a political solution to the Syrian crisis through a national dialogue among the Syrians and led by the Syrians.
Al-Moallem went on to say that “the government of Syria is already engaged in a series of political settlements with local armed groups allowing them to lay down their arms and resume a normal peaceful life in their country.”
Al-Moallem blamed the “sides” who are providing terrorists with arms, funds and political support for the crimes against humanity perpetrated in Syria, vowing that the Syrians will never forget how these powers have forged an unholy alliance to reduce them to poverty and back those who slice off the heads of the Syrian children.
Commenting on the chemical weapons file that was closed with Syria handing over all of its stockpile, al-Moallem noted that “The Syrian government has fully and comprehensively cooperated with the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, thus eliminating all its chemical weapon assets. This would deprive the terrorists and their backers of a pretext to attack Syria,” al-Moallem said.
Al-Moallem said that the global community should be explicitly clear in warning the Western powers not to encourage their allies to commit chemical attacks.
“The suffering of the Syrian people should not be used to serve the grand designs of the US and its allies in this region,” he added.
The foreign minister said terrorist jihadi groups on the ground must be eradicated and obliterated. ” It is the duty of the Syrian government and army to fight against the terrorist jihadis and completely defeat them,” he added.
He described as preposterous the “specious claim” by the West that negotiation with their appointed “external opposition leaders” would put an end to the violent conflict in Syria, saying that ” the Syrian people who cannot tolerate living under the reign of terror imposed by these groups are calling for their national army to restore law and order in their regions.”
Concluding his article, al-Moallem raised alarm by stating that “all values that humanity stands for and all the founding principles of the UN are at stake in Syria today.”
“The UN Security Council should abandon, once and for all, any ambivalence about terrorists and their categorization into good or bad terrorists,” al-Moallem said.
M. Ismael