Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister: we thank Syria for cooperating to release UNDOF observers

DAMASCUS, (ST)-Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Rafael Seguis expressed his country’s gratitude and appreciation to Syria for the support and cooperation offered for releasing the UNDOF Filipinos observers who were kidnapped by an armed terrorist group that violated the disengagement area.

During the meeting held on Sunday, Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Dr. Fayssal Mikdad said that Syria is known in fulfilling and respecting  its obligations and the international legitimacy, and in its keenness for the safety of the UN forces, reiterating  that it has cooperated with UNDOF over forty years and will continue to do so.

Mikdad reffered to the threat posed by the presence of these armed groups in the disengagement area to the lives of UNDOF forces and the Syrian citizens living there , which in turn requires the UN to shoulder  its  responsibilities in directing  a clear  message to these groups and their supporters to pull out of the area for  avoiding  a repetition of such  incidents, not just to issue truce statements.

Talks during the meeting also centered on the situation in the region, during which Dr. Mikdad presented an explanation of the political program for solving the crisis in Syria that the government is working to implement.

 Dr. Mikdad stressed that this program expresses Syria’s belief in dialogue for reaching a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria.

At the end of the meeting, Seguis offered condolences of the Philippines government and people over the victims of the terrorist bombings occurred in Damascus, hoping Syria would get out of its ordeal through dialogue and peaceful solutions.

Directors of the Consulate Department and Asia Department at the Foreign Minister attended the meeting.

Inas Abdulkareem