Shaaban Hopes New US Administration’s Policy Will be Balanced
DAMASCUS, (ST)- Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, the Presidential Political and Media Advisor, has stressed that Syria is keen on having good relations with all countries of the world if these relations serve the Syrian national interests and principles which form the basis of any decision or policy adopted in the country.
Shaaban made the remarks during the first Media Forum launched on Wednesday in Damascus by the Journalists Union marking the 46th Anniversary of the late President Hafez Al-Assad-led Correction Movement. The forum included a dialogue session with Shaaban on her book “Ten Years with President Hafez Al-Assad 1900-2000”.
The Presidential Advisor explained that the “facts and quotations provided in the book are the reality that no one can deny or refute.”
Concerning the Arab-Israeli negotiations, Shaaban said “the Syrian policy was based on two main principles…unifying Arab action and achieving security to all including the Palestinians, the Lebanese and the Syrians in addition to attaining lasting just and comprehensive peace to all.”
She pointed out that the founder and leader of modern Syria, late President Hafez Al-Assad, was firm in negotiation and was the best to represent his country and the entire Arab nation.
Shaaban also answered participants’ questions on the current developments in the region and the world.
She stressed that Syria’s coming victory is a victory for right, for the axis of resistance and for all the countries which believe in states’ sovereignty, in equality-based relations between countries and in dialogue.
She asserted that Syria is keen to establish good ties with all countries of the world if this maintains Syria’s national interests.
“Balanced” US Policy
Shaaban denied any secret relations with the United States, noting that Syria is ready to open contact channels with the U.S. in accordance with the country’s national interest and sovereignty. However, Shaaban said, “the American administration hasn’t been able to implement the pledges it made to Russia, so how it can open other files with other countries.”
Replying a question on the new US president’s statements, Shaaban said “we are observing and studying..we won’t make any judgment now, but signs have been good so far.”
She added that “all what the Syrians want is to prevent any interference in their affairs”, hoping that the policy of the new American administration will be “balanced and logical” that takes the historical era, through which the world is passing, into consideration.
The Presidential Advisor clarified that “western media is controlled by only several corporations and 90 percent of Arab media is owned by Saudi Arabia and is being exploited by the parties that seek destroying Syria.”
Information Minister Mohammad Ramez Turjman told journalists that Shaaban’s book shed light on an important era in Syria’s history and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It highlighted peace negotiations held between the Syrian leadership and the US administration, in addition to the late President Hafez Al-Assad’s stances which affirmed Syria’s insistence to restore the entire occupied Syrian Golan and the occupied Arab territories.
Turjman clarified that documenting these historical events explains why Syria is being targeted today, stressing that the ongoing war on Syria aims to change the core of the main conflict in the region, to undermine the Palestinian cause and cancel the Palestinians’ right to return to their original homeland and the Syrians right to restore occupied Golan.
He affirmed the importance of holding such forums because of their important intellectual effect on the new generation, particularly as Syria is facing a sinister scheme that targets its existence, civilization and history.
Hamda Mustafa