Al-Jaafari: Informal Paper on Reviving Political Process in Geneva is Totally Rejected

VIENNA– Syria has rejected in full the informal paper on reviving the political process in Geneva because it contradicts international resolutions and aims to undermine the Geneva talks and the Sochi Congress.

SANA reported that in a press conference at the end of Vienna’s meeting on Friday, al-Jaafari said the Syrian delegation has had constructive discussions with the UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura.

 “We used the meeting to answer many questions, especially with regard to Sochi’s Congress,” al-Jaafari said, adding that “the results of the Congress will be the outcome of the dialogue between the Syrians themselves.”

He explained that the aim of Sochi’s Congress is an intra-Syrian national dialogue without external interference as 1,600 Syrian participants representing the various components of the Syrian people will attend it.

Al-Jaafari said that it is no coincidence that the Vienna meeting coincided with the “leaking” or intentional distribution of an “informal paper” for the so-called revival of the political process in Geneva about Syria by representatives of five countries who met in Washington and then Paris, namely the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, all of whom have been involved in shedding Syrian blood since the beginning of the crisis.

“This in itself is like a black comedy which we are living in a new chapter of the conspiracy against Syria. How does a country like America – who created and sponsored Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organization, and is still fighting for it over the Syrian territory, a state that violates Syrian sovereignty by its military presence on its territory in flagrant defiance of all international covenants and laws – how can a state like this whose hands are covered in Syrian blood and has directly attacked Syria talk about the political solution and the future in Syria?” al-Jaafari said.

“How can countries such as Britain and France, who follow American policy like the blind leading the blind, envision of any solution or political horizon in Syria? And a state like Jordan, which hosts the secret military operations room and has opened its territory to terrorists from all directions and turned its territory into a safe haven for seven terrorist training camps to train and send them to Syria and other countries, how can it talk about sovereignty, politics, and participation in making a political solution in Syria?

“And last but not least, Saudi Arabia, the crown jewel, the epitome of democracy, the beacon of freedom in the East, the model of the rule of law, the example of constitutions and social justice, the oasis of good living and gender equality, the icon of elections and alternation of holding power, how can such a medieval country contribute to devising an advanced vision for a Syrian constitution? This rally is a black comedy,” he added.

Al-Jaafari affirmed that this so-called informal paper is totally rejected and is not worth the ink it was written with, because the Syrian people have not and will not accept solutions that are parachuted to them or brought on tanks.

He added that the authors of this informal paper have written it in an irresponsible manner that portrayed the political process in Geneva as if it has died, adding that the authors of this paper are trying to give the impression that they are trying to revive the political process in Geneva while in fact they seek to “kill it and attend its funeral” as the local saying goes.

He pointed out that this failed attempt seeks to undermine the Geneva talks, the Sochi Congress, and any prospects for the political solution in Syria, because this is consistent with its authors’ destructive policy in the region.

Earlier, the delegation held a new meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura at the UN HQ in Vienna.

The meeting comes as part of a new round of the intra-Syrian dialogue in the context of the Geneva political process.

On Thursday, the delegation held a meeting with de Mistura in addition to two separate meetings with the Director of Middle East and North Africa Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Vershinin and the Executive Director of the UN Office in Vienna Yury Fedotov.