Al-Jaafari: Any Willingness to Fight Terrorism in Cooperation with Syrian Army Is Welcomed

GENEVA, (ST)- The Syrian Arab Republic delegation, led by Dr. Bashar Al-Jaaafri, on Friday held a fourth and conclusive meeting with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura within the framework of the seventh round of the Intra-Syrian talks.

In a press conference  following the talks, Jaafari said the delegation held a useful meeting with de Mistura that focused on two main issues namely fighting terrorism and the meetings of the legal and constitutional experts. He added that the experts meetings dealt with principles relating to the constitutional process which were provided in the paper of  basic principles of political solution, named the 12–point paper.

 Al-Jaafari also said that most of the conclusive session dealt with the latest developments in the fight against terrorism in Syria, noting that he urged de Mistura to convey Syria’s concerns on the issue of terrorism and the fight against terrorist organizations to the Security Council and the international community.

He went on to say that the meeting with de Mistura tackled the massacres caused by the airstrikes of the US-led coalition near the city of Raqqa  and in Tabqa area, stressing that these strikes have worsened the humanitarian situation of civilians there.

The Turkish expansionist scheme in the northwest of Syria in the light of the Turkish military incursion operations to the inside of the Syrian territories was also one of the topics dealt with during the meeting, said al-Jaafari.

On the other hand, he said, there is an optimistic picture; that is the return of hundreds of internally displaced Syrian families in the city of Jarabulus on the border with Turkey to their homes in al-Waer neighborhood in Homs, in addition to the return of hundreds of other families from Arsal in Lebanon on the Syrian border to Assal al-Ward city in Syria.

Replying a question on then return of the Syrian refugees, al-Jaafari said “as you all know the Syrian government have called on the countries which hosted Syrian refugees to allow them to return to their homeland, but the problem is that some governments are dealing with the refugees issue from the view point of political and financial investment.

Commenting on the remarks made by the French President Emmanuel Macron that France has shifted its priorities in Syria and it is focusing now on defeating terrorism, al-Jaafari said that “any western awakening is welcomed and any intention by any country to seriously fight terrorism in cooperation with the Syrian Arab army is also welcomed.”

In the same context, de Mistura said in a statement that today evening, he will submit a report to the Security Council  on the results of the seventh round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.

Hamda Mustafa