On November 16, President Bashar Al-Assad received a number of condolence letters on the death of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid Al-Moallem.

Lebanese President General Michel Aoun expressed his condolences on the death of al-Moallem and expressed his hope for the return of peace to all parts of Syria.

Damascus, (ST) - With the participation of Arab and international delegations, activities of the International Conference on the Return of Refugees started on Wednesday at the Umayyad Place in Damascus.

President Bashar Al-Assad affirmed that the refugee issue for Syria is a national issue in addition to being a humanitarian one. He said we  have succeeded in making hundreds of thousands of refugees return to their homeland over the past few years. Today we are still working diligently for the return of every refugee wishing to comeback home and contribute to building his homeland.

President Al-Assad stressed in a video speech during the opening of the International Conference on the Return of Refugees, that the overwhelming majority of Syrians abroad today are more than ever willing to return to their homeland because they refuse to be taken advantage of politically and to be used as a card in the hands of regimes that support terrorism against their homeland.

International conference on the return of Syrian refugees to Syria

President Assad in the opening speech of the international conference on the return of refugees :For Syria the refugee issue is not only a humanitarian one but a national one too.The majority of Syrians living outside wish to return home