Cooperation with the Syrian government as to uproot takfiri terrorism

From the very beginning of the crisis in Syria, the international community has not shown credibility in dealing with the question of fighting terrorism. Moreover, this issue has been used by some states to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs. Over the past five years, the UN dealt with the issue of combating the terrorism targeting Syria in a biased manner, with several member states foiling any active and legitimate UN steps to confront terrorist organizations in Syria, which had disastrous consequences. The UN should play an active role in fighting terrorism in a manner that respects international law strictly, and without politicization or double standards.

Some Security Council member states do not only hinder the listing of some of those organizations as terror groups, but also seek to legitimatize and embellish them by giving them various labels like “moderate armed opposition groups” or “non-state actors” or “armed rebel groups.”

Some Security Council members suspended the resolution of a Syrian request to list the group known as “Mohammad Abu Obaidah al-Muhajer army” as a terror group despite the fact that this group swore allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra and Al Qaeda. How a group led by a Libyan, a Tunisian, an Egyptian, and a Frenchman can possibly be “moderate Syrian opposition.?”

It has been an established fact that any effort for fighting terrorism will not succeed if it violates international law and if it’s carried out without coordination with the governments of concerned states.The only successful way to fight terrorism is to establish an active international alliance within the framework of international law and with the participation of concerned states, first among them being the Syrian state.

There are attempts by some member countries to justify their military intervention in Syria under article 51 of the UN Charter. By doing so, they manipulate and undermine the UN Charter and international law. Many official letters  have been sent to the UN Secretary-General on the harm done to Syrian civilians, economic facilities, infrastructure, and oil and gas fields by the so-called international coalition, which targets the Syrian state’s resources and infrastructure under the pretense of “fighting terrorism”. Such attacks have destroyed civilians’ homes, factories, schools,  bridges, grain silos and public and private properties.

There is a need to deal with extremist Takfiri ideas and cutting off the resources that come to terrorist organization both directly from certain governments and indirectly from others that trade in oil, gas, and archeological artifacts with terrorists.There is also a necessity of preventing the arming of terrorists, particularly preventing terrorists from obtaining WMDs and means to produce and deploy them. Israel along with the Qatari and Saudi regimes are supporting terrorist organizations affiliated with Jabhat al-Nusra.

Despite the terrorist acts that have been taking place in Syria for years and in other countries, terrorist organizations are still capable of movement, recruitment, planning, funding, and carrying out reprehensible terrorist attacks in bombings.Tens of thousands of foreign fighters were sent to Syria from more than 115 countries according to UN reports, and this was done with support and facilitations by states including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, which raises the question of how much do some UN member states respect their commitments in counter-terrorism and calls for holding them accountable for breaching international law.

The appalling massacresby the ISIS terrorists are aimed to lift the sagging morale of terrorist organizations which have seen dramatic collapse in their ranks following a series of recent military wins by the Syrian army and allies.The blasts, massacres and shelling carried out by ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups come in the framework of the “fascist” and “criminal” policies of the regime of Erdogan and are being committed with financial and military support from this regime and those of Doha and Riyadh.

The first step to combat terrorism should be taking deterrent and punitive measuresagainst the countries and regimes supporting and financing terrorism, especially those of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. By so doing, the UN can restore some of its credibility.

K.Q.