Al-Moallem: What Syria’s delegation to Geneva did was part of its national duty

Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem said what Syria’s official delegation to Geneva conference did was part of its national duty but cannot be equalized with what every member of the Syrian Arab Army is doing in the framework of combating terrorism.
Al-Moallem was addressing the People’s Assembly during a session Wednesday in which he presented a political review on the latest political developments related to the crisis in Syria.
”We did not take part in drafting Geneva 1 communique or the preparations for Geneva 2 conference. It was foreign ministers of Russia, US and the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi who took part for long periods of time and held several meetings,” the foreign minister said.
”We were surprised the majority of the 40-country list of invitees to the conference was countries involved in the conspiracy against Syria,” he added.
He described as shameful the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon withdrawing invitation to Iran to attend the conference twelve hours after extending it. ”He did wrong to himself and the UN by doing so,” al-Moallem added.
The Syrian delegation insisted on making the most of participation in Geneva 2 by bringing the suffering of the Syrian people to the attention of all the countries which attended, al-Moallem pointed out. ”Especially that we realized we were on a hostile turf designed to be as such, with up to 100 TV channels and thousand journalists assembled at the media center to back the so-called ‘Coalition’s delegation’.”
The Coalition’s delegation came with clear instructions and promises that bordered on illusions that it will be taking power through Geneva 2, shrugging off the idea of discussing any topic except what they called ”the transitional governing body,” al-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,” al-Moallem pointed out.
”They also rejected another sheet that included general ideas about commitment to combating terrorism, banning funds and arms transfers to terrorists and a draft communiqué to condemn US 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, al-Moualem said.
The Syrian delegation wanted to compel the Coalition’s delegation to accept fighting terrorism targeting the Syrian people by urging its backers to stop financing terrorism. ‘But Syria’s delegation was not afraid to discuss the transitional government, especially that we had a legal study on the topic.”
He saw that Brahimi tenders his resignation with no invitation extended to a new conference in Geneva, ”then this might logically lead to two options: A continuation of the armed forces’ achievements in sync with continuing dialogue with all components of the Syrian community and the national opposition, and encouraging local reconciliations underway in several areas for them to be generalized across the country as they help stem bloodshed in Syria.”
Al-Moallem said the Israeli aggression on al-Hamidiyeh in the occupied Syrian Golan early this morning came after Israel got wind of the fact that the Syrian armed forces carried out a preemptive operation from northern Golan towards Daraa and the Jordanian borders to torpedo any thought of establishing “a safe belt” in Golan with the aim to preserve the safety of Israel.
Answering questions raised by MPs, al-Moallem said shift in the stances of some Gulf Cooperation states from Qatar came as a result of its adoption of Muslim Brotherhood movement, referring to some attempts by Qatar to improve its stance towards Syria, but this issues needs the opinion of the Syrian people, particularly as Qatar has contributed to shedding the Syrian blood and worked to destroy infrastructure.
Al-Moallem said that Poland decided to re-operate its embassy in Damascus and Syria is waiting and welcomes decisions to return embassies which have not got stained in the Syrian blood, adding that Syria is not only facing a universal war, but also there are entire countries which are afraid of being punished if they contacted Syria.
He denied any hidden diplomatic communications with the US, asserting that Syria does not lean to such communications as it is looking for declared relations so that the Syrian people know what is going on.
The primary beneficiary of what is going on in Syria and the Arab region is Israel which is living “actual spring” and it is harvesting the fruits of liquidating the Palestinian cause.
Al-Moallem added that Israel’s transferring of hundreds of injured terrorists to its hospitals confirms the fact that these are genuine agents and Israel is interfering directly in the crisis when its feels that the Syrian army is achieving victories.
He stressed that eliminating terrorists is direct response to Israel’s interference in the crisis in Syria.
Al-Moallem said that the Israeli aggression on al-Hamidieh village in the occupied Syrian Golan this morning came after Israel felt that the Syrian army has carried out a proactive operation from northern Golan to Daraa and the Jordanian borders to destroy any thought to establish a security ring in the Golan that is aimed at protecting Israel’s security.
Concerning the threats to open a front in southern Syria, al-Moallem clarified that such threats are for exaggeration and the front of the south is basically open as weapons and terrorists infiltrate every day, considering Jordan’s denial that it has trained and armed terrorists on its ground as neither offering nor delaying anything as the one who are training there are the Americans through joint operations with the Israeli Mossad, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, hailing the victories of the Syrian Arab Army.
Al-Moallem added that the western countries are afraid of the return of the terrorists to their countries, pointing out that Saudi Arabia issued decisions to prevent Saudi terrorists to return “as if it wanted us to kill them before they return.”
Concerning the costs of dismantling the chemical weapons, al-Moallem clarified that a fund was established in the Hague to reach an agreement on this process.
The Foreign and Expatriates Minister said that the majority of the Syrian people did not want the Syrian diplomacy and national media to be in Geneva, but they wanted us to be committed to the national principles and search for political solution everywhere to end terrorism and restore security and stability to the country.
Al-Moallem stressed that Syria will not give up to foreign pressure which is practiced by some countries under humanitarian titles and pretexts in spite of the difficult situation, pointing out that the UN Security Council resolution No. 2139 which provides for delivering humanitarian aid to all areas in Syria was discussed with the UN to be implemented through mechanisms that ensure the national sovereignty.
Earlier, A military source said the Zionist enemy violated Disengagement Agreement in the occupied Syrian Golan by firing missiles and tank shells and opening machinegun fire injuring a number of Internal Security Forces personnel and civilians.
Speaker of the People’s Assembly, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham said Syria has managed over decades to overcome conspiracies and proved capable of aborting Western and Arab schemes, indicating that the Syrian official delegation to Geneva 2 truly expressed the will of the Syrian people.