Al-Jaafari: Statement of Riyadh II Conference Provocative, Categorically Rejected
GENEVA, (ST)- The provocative language used in the statement issued by the Saudi-backed Syrian opposition group in its recently held conference in Riyadh is categorically rejected as the statement constituted a step backward plus it included precondition for dialogue and this contradicts the Security Council Resolution 2254, Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to Geneva Intra-Syrian talks Bashar Al-Jaafari has underscored.
In a press conference following a third meeting with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Friday within the framework of the 8th Round of Intra-Syrian Talks in Geneva, al-Jaafari said Riyadh II statement is categorically rejected and the Syrian Arab Republic delegation won’t join direct talks as long as the Riyadh-backed opposition insists on adopting this statement.
Those who wrote Riyadh II statement aimed at undermining the mission of the UN envoy, al-Jaafari stressed, pointing out that the statement doesn’t take into consideration the political and military developments that have taken place since the mandate of the former UN envoy Lakhdar Al-Ibrahimi, so it is considered as a step backward.
He added the talks with de Mistura focused on the paper of main principles for political solution which constitutes the gate for building a common ground and confidence between the concerned parties to facilitate finding solutions for several issues.
Al-Jaafari made it clear that the delegation presented the paper to de Mistura nine months ago and asked for the opposition side’s answers. However, instead of bringing the answers de Mistura proposed his own paper to be the basis for discussion and by doing so he contradicted his mandate as a mediator.
“We are not negotiating with the mediator, but through the mediator,” he said, clarifying that the objection was not made on the content of de Mistura’s paper as “we are still discussing the shape of dialogue and haven’t enter into the content yet”.
He pointed out that in accordance with the UN rules, the paper presented first should be discussed first and then the papers that come next.
“We are leaving Geneva tomorrow and it is up to Damascus to decide whether we return to Geneva or not,” al-Jaafari said, noting that de Mistura invited the delegation for resuming the talks on December 5th .
Al-Jaafari pointed out that there are daily military victories against terrorism and Syria is close to achieving total victory over Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organization, stressing that the Syrian government is ready to go to any place that may help in achieving progress that fulfills the aspirations of the Syrian people nationally, noting that “we practice high-level national policies to protect our people and our land, and we are not in a political game.”
On Syria’s position on the so-called “local councils” elections in the north of the country, al-Jaafari said that there is no such thing as Kurdish areas in the north of Syria; there are only Syrian areas and Syrian Kurdish component, stressing that any unilateral action taken without coordination with the Syrian government is absolutely unacceptable, adding that Syria has a local state administration that has been in the constitution since 1973, and there are the People’s Assembly and other state institutions where everything can be put forward, but the last reference point is the Syrian state.
Hamda Mustafa