“Russia won’t leave Syria alone” , Umakhanov tells al-Zou’bi

MOSCOW, (ST) –”we will not leave Syria alone in the ongoing ordeal .Moscow has a firm stance as regards the crisis in Syria, “said  Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Ilyas Umakhanov.

Umakhanov ‘s remark was made during a meeting held today (Saturday) in Moscow with Information Minister Omran al-Zou’bi.

“Russia and Syria have a deep-rooted history of cooperation  .We are very interested that the situation in Syria to be eventually settled peacefully. The Syrians only have the right to settle the crisis through a negotiating table. 

In turn,al-Zou’bi underscored that the incessant US hysteria on using chemical weapons by the Syrian government is because of the Syrian Arab army’s success in eliminating  terrorists who came from 29 countries with 5,000 gunmen from Yemen.

“the format of the armed opposition in Syria is basically consist of foreign mercenaries who infiltrated into Syria not only from neighboring countries but also from Britain,Australia,France and others, ‘affirmed al-Zou’bi.

Syria is seeking to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the grouping of the emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in the future, the  information minister said.

“We would like to become one day the member of such organizations as the SCO and BRICS,”

Al-Zou’bi  added that  Syria would also like Russia to participate in the country’s reconstruction after the settlement of the crisis in Syria.

In the March declaration at the end of the BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, the leaders expressed “deep concern” over the ongoing crisis in Syria and warned against any further militarization of the conflict.

Founded in 2001, the SCO comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The organization consolidates efforts to counter terrorism and radicalization among member countries, and also works on other policy areas such as politics and trade.

M.D