Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Geneva, SANA – Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva Bashar al-Jaafari said that the fifth round of dialogue was concluded without the delegation receiving any response from the other platforms on any of the papers it submitted.
In a press conference on Friday following the final session of talks with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura as part of the fifth round of dialogue, al-Jaafari said that the delegation concluded this round after a session with de Mistura that lasted two hours, noting that this round began while barbaric and brutal attacks were being carried out on Damascus, attacks which failed like all the ones before it, in addition to attacks on Hama countryside and Lattakia countryside which the Syrian Arab Army and supporting and friendly forces managed to repel.
“During this round of Geneva 5, we submitted through the course of eight days several papers to the Special Envoy, the first of them being a paper on fighting terrorism, and a paper of general principles for the political solutions in Syria. These papers are about finding logical and natural grounds for addressing constitution issues. Of course, during these eight days we discussed in headlines the four baskets which are governance, constitution , elections, and terrorism, in addition to the basic principles paper which was part of our discussion about each of the four baskets,” he said.
Al-Jaafari noted that the delegation posed a number of queries about issues that the Special Envoy had brought up before and during this round, and in turn the delegation gave de Mistura papers to submit to the other sides or platforms on the basis that Geneva is based on Syrian-Syrian dialogue via a UN mediator.
“Regretably, this round is voer and we haven’t received the response of the other sides or platforms to any paper of our papers. This is no longer surprising because they don’t want to fight terrorism and they don’t want a political solution unless this political solution is tailored to their delusions which the years and facts proved that they never have and never will be realized,” he explained, adding that those sides only had one delusion in their minds which is handing over the keys to Syria and the power to them.
“They foamed and frothed, as they say in Arabic, during this round, ceaselessly making silly and tiresome statements showcasing their deviant opinions and twisted logic as if they’re contestants on one of those TV shows where competitors seek to win votes like Arab Idol or the Voice, to the point that we felt that Geneva has become hosted on satellite channels and not in the halls of Syrian-Syrian dialogue without external interference,” al-Jaafari elaborated.
He went on to say that this once again reveals that these sides are in a state of adolescence when it comes to politics, the situation on the ground, and mass media, in addition to proving that they are agents of external forces and traitors to their homeland Syria, adding “since they are tools and mercenaries in the hand of their operators and masters, it seems that they haven’t received orders yet, except orders to support terrorism, cause ruckus and disturbance, and disrupt the entire round in clear reflection of the faces of their operators who support terrorism and who want to derail the Astana and Geneva tracks.”
Al-Jaafari pointed out that despite all of that, the Syrian Arab Republic delegation completed this round of dialogue with utmost seriousness, patience, and responsibility, because it bears the responsibility of defending Syria and stopping the bloodshed, adding “the mercenaries and traitors and those who live in Riyadh, Ankara, Doha, and other capitals cannot feel the pains and sufferings of the Syrian people.”
He stressed the importance of continuing to hold the Astana and Geneva meetings and insuring the success of the Russian and Iranian efforts on the Astana track, as these efforts contribute greatly to achieving steps in Geneva 6.
Regarding the new American position towards Syria, al-Jaafari said that the evaluation of the US State Secretary is carried out in Damascus, and as for the statements of the new US ambassador to the UN, he said that all ambassadors at the Security Council must understand the goal and rules of the Geneva meetings which are based on the principle of the dialogue being intra-Syria without foreign interference, adding “since the US ambassador is new to the Security Council, I think we must give her some time to digest the Syrian reality related to dialogue in Geneva and Astana. Syria’s future is decided by the Syrians themselves, not by the US ambassador at the Security Council or any other ambassador.”
Regarding the date of the next round of Geneva dialogue, al-Jaafari said that they agreed with de Mistura to continue communications via diplomatic channels to specify that date, adding that discussing any subject other than the main headlines which are the four baskets and the basic principles papers requires reaching agreement on the headlines first, so no work team can be formed before reaching agreement on the basic principles.
He said that the delegation had hoped to achieve more progress during this round but this didn’t happen, but the fact that the four baskets and the basic principles paper were discussed is good in and of itself.
In response to a question on media claims about reaching an agreement regarding Madaya, al-Zabadani, Kefraya, and al-Foua’a with Iranian and Qatari sponsorship and with the Syrian state being out of the deal, al-Jaafari said “I advise you to rid yourself of these delusions. Nothing can happen on Syrian territory without the knowledge and consent of the Syrian government, whether it’s about the activities of the UN or international NGOs or something else, so we can never allow any Qatari activity on Syrian territory before the Syrian government agrees to this, particularly since Qatar is a sponsor of terrorism in Syria.”
He went on to add that the issue of these four towns isn’t something new, and the Syrian government has worked with friends, allies, and the UN to realize humanitarian achievements there, saying that the priority is Kefraya and al-Foua’a that haven’t received the needed humanitarian aid during the past four years, as the Syrian government has been airlifting aid to them via helicopters, and once the terrorists working for Qatar shot down a helicopter carrying exam papers for the high school certificate.
Regarding the obstacles hindering progress in Geneva, al-Jaafari said that the first is the absence of a patriotic partner, and second is the lack of political will to achieve political progress among the sponsors of terrorism and the sponsors of the platforms participating in Geneva.
As for the issue of abductees, al-Jaafari said that this issue is very important for the Syrian public opinion, which is why the delegation interacted positively with de Mistura’s paper on fighting terrorism and presented a paper outlining the Syrian government’s position regarding this issue, explaining that the issue of fighting terrorism covers the issue of abductees and detainees, but sadly other platforms didn’t interact with the terrorism basket because their priorities were the delusions that their operators filled their heads with.
“Some of them and not all of them are terrorists by nature, this is why they clapped and cheered for the campaign of terrorism that started in Damascus, Hama, and Lattakia only a few days before we came to Geneva, deluding themselves into believing that they can exert political pressure with this terrorism. The strange thing is that the shelling stopped today in Damascus as if terrorists are selective in their shelling of Damascus; shelling one day and stopping on another according to the agenda in Geneva,” he said.
Al-Jaafari went on to state in response to another question that “one does not pick his enemies, so we have nothing to do with the selection of other opposing platforms. We’re not the ones who elected or picked or appointed the members of those platforms.”
Hazem Sabbagh
