Civil Initiative for Local Reconciliations Launched

DAMASCUS – The State Ministry for National Reconciliation Affairs launched on Monday a civil initiative for local reconciliations in the presence of representatives from all Syrian provinces.

In a speech during the launching ceremony, State Minister for National Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haidar affirmed the need for the civil society which is the government’s partner in accomplishing reconciliations, pointing out that the initiative is completely a voluntary project, SANA reported.

He noted that this initiative is the beginning of a long and hard road towards a goal that the Syrian people hope for, calling on members of the initiative not to expect any compensation or position as result of this voluntary work, adding that all previous initiatives succeeded in some ways and failed in others due to the corruption of some persons who took advantage of the reconciliation project.

The minister said that the corruption of some people should not affect national projects, asserting that he personally will not protect any corrupt individual in the reconciliation project.

He pointed out that reconciliation needs all civil initiatives on condition that the relationship between those initiatives and the Ministry of National Reconciliation adheres to proper protocol.

In turn, Sheikh Jaber Mahmoud Issa, head of the initiative, said that the people assigned to work in this initiative are the best and the most respectable and upright members of the reconciliation process, adding that the State Ministry is aware of the quality of the work performed by these members.