Foreign and Expatriates Ministry: Syrian State Spares No Effort to Implement Political Program to Solve Crisis

 DAMASCUS, (ST) – President Bashar Al-Assad’s speech on January 6th, 2013, has opened the door widely to a political solution to the crisis in Syria, the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry underscored on Monday.

 In two identical letters to the UN Chief and President of the UN Security Council on measures taken by the Syrian government to implement the political program proposed by President Al-Assad, the ministry said the speech was based on the principles and objectives of the UN Charter, International Law, related UN resolutions and the June 2012 Geneva Statement, so it provides a solid ground for solution and specifies the main elements on which any solution to the ongoing crisis must be based.

“President of the Syrian Arab Republic have tasked the Syrian government with setting up the mechanisms of implementing the political program to solve the crisis,” the ministry said, pointing out that a ministerial work team, led by the prime minister was formed for this purpose, and that the premier tasked government bodies with holding intensive meetings to accelerate the implementation of necessary emergency plans to tackle the damages caused to the state’s sectors by terrorist groups acts.

The Ministry added that President Al-Assad-proposed political program specified halting violence as the priority of every move towards national dialogue, reconciliation and reconstruction. It also affirmed that all regional and international parties must commit themselves to stopping the arming, funding and sheltering of armed terrorist groups. According to the program, the armed groups must commit themselves to the immediate halting of violence and the Syrian Army must stop military operations. Besides, the program stressed the need to facilitate humanitarian assistance to terrorism victims and to start rehabilitating the infrastructure.

The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry pointed out the Interior Ministry has recently urged all the Syrian citizens, who legally or illegally left their homeland because of the events, to return home. It also issued instructions allowing all Syrian opposition forces abroad, who want to take part in the national dialogue, to enter Syria regardless the documents they have and promised them to be provided with necessary facilitations.

In its two letters, the ministry referred to the procedures adopted by the Justice Ministry to settle the positions of the gunmen who lay down their weapons.

“Most recent procedure was yesterday’s Higher Judiciary Council’s decision to halt prosecutions against opposition political forces and figures who take part in the national dialogue,” the ministry said.

Regarding the humanitarian side, the ministry said that the Higher Relief Committee was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance to terrorism-affected families in cooperation with civil society associations and concerned international organizations.

The Ministry stressed that the Syrian state spares no effort to implement the political program and that the ministry will provide the Security Council with information about other procedures to be adopted.

“Syria expects that the international community and the United Nations will show understanding to the program and support the Syrian government’s efforts to implement it with the purpose of attaining stability in Syria and preserving peace and security in the Middle East and the world,” the ministry concluded.

H. Mustafa