Sabbagh urges parliamentary unions and commissions to pressure the west to lift its sanctions on Syria
Speaker of the Syrian People’s Assembly (PA) Hammouda Sabbagh has called on regional and international parliamentary unions and commissions as well as on the UN member states to effectively put pressure on the western countries, which are imposing sanctions on the Syrian people, to immediately lift these unfair coercive measures in order to assist Syria in overcoming the repercussions of the devastating earthquake that hit it earlier this month.
In a speech at the 34th Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) in Baghdad, Sabbagh hoped that this AIPU conference will be a turning point in the Arab cooperation and solidarity to reactive common Arab action and strengthen Arab unity in the face of dangers.
He thanked all the countries which provided assistance to the Syrian people during the earthquake disaster, stressing that the western sanctions have exacerbated the Syrians’ suffering, due to the shortage in the equipment necessary for relief and rescue operations and for confronting the earthquake repercussions. He pointed out that these sanctions have affected all walks of lives in Syria including the economic, social, health and educational sectors.
Sabbagh added that while Syria was trying to start recovery and heal from the war, the Israeli occupation launched an aggression on residential neighborhoods in Damascus that led to human casualties and massive destruction in infrastructure and archeological educational facilities.
“However, war and the unjust sanctions will not dissuade us from restoring our rights and occupied lands, foremost of which is the Syrian Golan”, Sabbagh stressed.
Hamda Mustafa