Al-Jaafari: The Russian reading is accurate, no fight against terrorism without the Syrian army (2)

New York – Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari described the Russian reading of the situation as an “accurate” one, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stress to the UN General Assembly on the inconceivability of fighting terrorism without coordination with the Syrian army.

 Speaking in a statement to Russia Today TV channel and reported by SANA, al-Jaafari questioned “How can one imagine fighting the terrorist entities in Syria without the Syrian army, the Syrian government and the Syrian president.”

He stressed that the Syrian army is the only military institution in the region today that takes its orders from a legitimate president under a legitimate government.

Was it not for the west, some Arabs, Turkey and Israel keeping the Syrian army busy fighting on more than 600 fronts, said al-Jaafari, this army “would have be capable, quite alone and without an international coalition, of eliminating ISIS terrorist organization within three months and not thirty years as US President Barack Obama said.”

He referred to President Putin’s focus in his speech before the General Assembly on the necessity that the Islamic countries engage in fighting terrorism, since, based on the UN Security Council’s relevant reports, most of the terrorists come from Arab and Islamic countries, which makes those “concerned more than others with fighting terrorism”, stressing that fighting terrorism must be legally and in accordance with the Council’s resolutions.

Al-Jaafari also cited the Russian President’s statements on the need to condemn not only terrorism but also all those who supply and provide cover for the terrorists and those who buy stolen gas, oil and antiquities from them.

Asked about Syria’s position on the participation of some states like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan in the Putin-proposed alliance against terrorism, al- Jaafari said only those who believe in the aims of this alliance can join it.

“You can’t take in a party that is up to its ears busy inflaming terrorism, if that party doesn’t believe in the need to join an objective alliance to fight terrorism,” he added, noting that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are supposed to be “practical parties” to combating terrorism since 95 % of terrorism imported in Syria and Iraq passes via these countries.

In reply to a question about Syria’s opponents’ talk about President Bashar al-Assad’s departure, the Syrian Ambassador said neither Obama nor Hollande or anyone else have the right to talk about the legitimacy of President al-Assad as he is democratically elected by his people, criticizing those who say that as being dissociated from the facts.

In his comments on the recently announced “joint information center” involving Syria, Russia, Iran and Iraq, al-Jaafari said the center is “a very important turning point for combating terrorism on the region’s level without having to wait for others.”

He added that the said center serves the idea of creating an international alliance against terrorism and it has opened the door before those who would join this security coordination.