Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Geneva, SANA – Head of the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva Bashar al-Jaafari said the track of political dialogue is one thing and combating terrorism is another thing.
Al-Jaafari told the BBC TV channel in an interview aired on Thursday that he told the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura that the Syrian Arab Army, with the help of the friends and allies, is going ahead with fighting terrorism.
“This is our right according to the UN resolutions and the international law,” he said.
“We are not trying to cover one thing with another, as the war against terrorism is going on whether we come to Geneva or not,” al-Jaafari added.
He made it clear that the Syrian government is not using the Geneva platform as a means to cover for the army’s advance. “This advance doesn’t wait for the Geneva round,” added al-Jaafari.
He stressed that the Syrian Arab army has been fighting terrorism for five years and will continue to do so regardless of the Geneva track.
Earlier Wednesday, de Mistura announced suspending the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva until the 25th of February.
Commenting on de Mistura’s announcement , al-Jaafari said this matter is premature and the capitals concerned will assess what happened.
This date is not sacred, he said, adding “we will decide whether we will come back on the 25th or before or after that date through the diplomatic channels.”
He held the Riyadh opposition and the UN envoy responsible for what happened in Geneva.
“The special envoy, with his undue diplomacy, allowed the Riyadh delegation to manipulate his good intentions,” said al-Jaafari, calling for not repeating the mistakes that occurred during Geneva 2 conference in terms of the bad preparation and the imposing of one delegation out of a broad spectrum of opposition groups as a party to the dialogue.
H. Said
