Al-Jaafari: France Doesn’t Have Right to Fight ISIL inside Syria without Coordination with Syrian Government, Army
NEW YORK, (ST)- Syria’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations Bashar Al-Jaafari has underscored that “it is impossible to combat terrorism without coordination with the legitimate government in Syria and the Syrian army.
Al-Jaafari made the remarks in an interview with the Russian News Agency “Itar Tass” commenting on the air strikes France launched yesterday inside Syria.
He said “the French President Francios Hollande has not coordinated those actions with President Bashar Al-Assad and the French military acted without an agreement with the Syrian armed forces.”
“It is impossible to fight terrorism without cooperation with the legal government in Syria and the Syrian army” al-Jaafari stressed, pointing out that “this is exactly what President Putin meant when he described the Syrian army as the only legitimate force to cooperate with in the fight against terrorism.”
The Syrian diplomat reiterated that “France does not have the right to fight terrorism this way and unilaterally even if it is a member of the so-called Coalition for fighting ISIL”.
“This is an American coalition, not an international one…it is not based on the Security Council’s resolution and is not supported by a consensus,” al-Jaafari clarified.
Itar TASS learned from the office of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon they have not been informed about the planned air strikes.
Commenting on Hollande’s remarks saying that President Bashar Assad does not have a role in the future of Syria, al-Jaafari said “by calling for the change of the regime, Hollande is contradicting the UN Charter,” pointing out that “words of such kind indicate ignorance particularly if they are said at the UN headquarters.”
Hamda Mustafa