Alwaght- Head of the Syrian government delegation at Geneva talks on the country’s crisis say the first day focused on counter-terrorism efforts.
Bashar al-Jaafari said that the fifth round of the Syrian dialogue in Geneva started with a background of escalation by Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organizations affiliated to it, and this is not the first time that such escalation was carried out simultaneously with the initiation of rounds of talks or political initiatives, whether in Geneva or Astana.
In a press conference following his meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Friday, al-Jaafari stressed that the latest escalation is worth noting in terms of timing, the form, and the substance of the escalation.
He said that this time, the participants in the attacks starting from the neighborhood of Jobar of Damascus were al-Nusra Front, Failaq al-Rahman, and Jaish al-Islam, adding that these factions have been fighting the Syrian Army and fighting among themselves as well in line with the instructions given to these faction by their handlers, but when the instructions were sent by these handlers to unite under the umbrella of al-Nusra Front, those who had been fighting each other yesterday became partners today.
Referring to the double-standards used by Western countries in the war on terror, Al Jaafari gave an example of the Wednesday terrorist attack in London and said, “When a terrorist attacks the British Parliament in London, the UK mobilizes all its forces and its nuclear, biological, chemical, and traditional weapons to kill this single attacker, and when another terrorist named Mohamed Marrah attacked one city in France, he was killed with 300 bullets, but when a terrorist attacks the Justice Palace in Damascus, the western media, including the British and French, call him a jihadist.”
In response to a question on the statements of some members of a delegation of the Syrian opposition based in Riyadh who attempted to justify the attacks in Damascus and Hama, al-Jaafari said that these pro-terrorism statements was a point that was raised with de Mistura, and he understood this position and therefore the counter-terrorism basket will be discussed on Saturday, adding “such statements uncover the affiliation of those individuals and the agendas they work for, and this is what we have been saying for years.”
The fifth round of talks on Syrian crisis settlement kicked off on March 23 and is expected to conclude on March 31.
Syria blames Western countries, the Israeli regime and their allies in the region namely Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar for being behind the deadly conflict in the country which started in March 2011.
