Senator Richard Black: ‘I will be Syria’s voice in the United States’

DAMASCUS, (ST)-Speaker of the People’s Assembly (PA) Mohammad Jihad al-Lahham and the U.S. Senator Richard Black on Tuesday discussed political developments in the region, anti-terrorism efforts and the repercussions of the unjust economic blockade imposed on the Syrian people.

Black stressed that what is going in Syria has impacts on the future of civilizations in the entire world.

“Syria is a key state in the region though it a small country and its destruction will have dangerous impacts on civilization and humanity in general,” he said, pointing out that the Russian airstrikes against terrorists in Syria have made great achievements in terms of fighting terrorism.

The US senator affirmed that when he returns home he will immediately hold discussions at the Congress aiming to change the negative viewpoint prevailing in the U.S. about events in Syria and to reopen the Syrian Embassy in the United States.

“I will be Syria’s voice in the United States,” Black said, stressing that the steadfastness of a state  in the size of Syria in confrontation of all American, European and Gulf forces is a God’s miracle.”

On his part, al-Lahham said “Syria is fighting terrorism and extremism on behalf of the entire world and its victory overterrorist organizations is a victory to the civil values boosted by international conventions and charters.

“We in Syria believe that the United States isn’t serious about fighting terrorism despite the alleged anti-terror coalition it is leading and which hasn’t achieved any results on ground,” al-Lahham said, hailing Black’s objective stances towards the terrorist war which has been targeting Syria over the past five years. 

Senator Black: Those Fighting in Syria are Terrorists         

Upon his arrival in Damascus, the US Senator stressed that what is going on in Syria is terrorism and the issue is simply that there are terrorists fighting the Syrian people and the legitimate government.

There are no “moderate” fighters in Syria, said Black in a statement to SANA upon his arrival in Damascus on a three-day-visit to the country.

He clarified that many people misunderstand what is happening in Syria, and some of them did not believe that those who are fighting the Syrian people and the government are all terrorists, hoping that he would be able to let the American people know the reality about Syria.

Black, who is a Republican member of the Virginia State Senate, said the crisis in Syria did not start from inside the country but rather in Western and Gulf capitals and their intelligence services, who made the decision to create chaos and have actually done so and shed so much blood.

He told SANA reporter that although he had not visited Syria before, he has studied the situation in the country in depth and for a long, which allowed him to tell who is bad and who is good.

Black went on saying that what he can tell is that President Bashar al-Assad was legitimately elected in 2014 elections in which two thirds of eligible voters took part and many of those votes were in his favor.

President al-Assad wants to build an advanced and modern state where people are free and can practice their religious beliefs without violence, Black added.

He wondered how parties such as Saudi Arabia, which has never for once had held elections, could ask for elections to be held in Syria and for the constitution there to be changed.

He pointed out that unlike Syria, Saudi Arabia doesn’t have a constitution or women’s rights. In addition, religious freedom in Saudi Arabia is absent,  yet it urges change of the constitution in Syria.

Hamda Mustafa