New York, SANA_ Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said that Syria has reservations over the politicized approaches of some UN Security Councils member states regarding the frequent requests for holding Council meetings whenever Syria takes legal measures to protect its citizens from the practices of terrorist groups.
During a UN Security Council’s session on the situation in Syria on Friday, al-Jaafari said that some Council members continue to ignore the war crimes committed by the US-led illegal coalition in Syria in collusion with their proxy militias, particularly the SDF, crimes which include the complete destruction Raqqa city and killing and displacing its residents, in addition to the coalition’s crimes in Deir Ezzor, and the forced detainment of tens of thousands of civilians in al-Rukban camp in al-Tanf area.
He said that the selective approach of certain Council members constitutes support for terrorism, rallying against the Syrian states, and obstruction of its efforts for protecting its citizens and combating terrorism.
The diplomat clarified that Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization exploits the failure of the Turkish regime to abide by its commitments under the de-escalation zone agreement and the Astana and Sochi understandings to impose its control over Idleb and create a terrorist hotbed used to blackmail the Syrian state.
Syria’s Representative said in response to the statements of Belgium’s representative that there are no “arbitrary attacks on civilians” in Idleb; there are military operations conducted against Jabhat al-Nusra, a terrorist entity that includes tens of thousands of foriegn terrorists sent by certain countries’ governments to Syria to fight with groups that carry various names that have nothing to do with Syria, yet some like to call these foriegn terrorists “moderate armed Syrian opposition.”
Al-Jafaari said that al-Nusra terrorists are using hundreds of thousands of civilians in Idleb as human shields, committing the most heinous crimes, and targeting civil facilities including hospitals and schools, some of which they turned into centers for the detention, torture, and murder of those who reject their takfiri mentality.
He said that al-Nusra targets towns and cities close to Idleb with rockets and shells, claiming the lives of dozens of civilians, most of them women and children, in Aleppo, Hama, Lattakia, Mhardeh, al-Suqailibiye, and other areas.
Al-Jaafari noted that the de-escalation agreement is temporary, and maintaining it requires that the Turkish regime end its occupation of Syrian territory, abide by its obligations, and cease supporting terrorists in Idleb.
Al-Jaafari affirmed that Idleb is a Syrian province and the Syrian state is the one in charge of protecting the province and its Syrian citizens from terrorism and the UNSC’s duty is to assist it in doing so.
“We ask the states that called for holding the Security Council session: what would be your options for dealing with a terrorist organization containing thousands of terrorists if it seizes one of your cities and commits heinous crimes against its people and targets other cities with shells and rockets?” he said.
Al-Jaafari stressed that no country in the world would submit to terrorist threats or to endangering its citizens’ lives or usurping its sovereign and constitutional right to defend its land and people.
“Ending the suffering of Syrians in Idleb requires stopping hyposcisy and politicization and investment in terrorists and manipulating peoples’ destinies and lives,” he asserted.
Syria’s Representative wondered why Western states refuse to take back their countrymen who are involved in terrorist acts in Syria, or to uncover who recruited, funded, and trained them and facilitated their entry into Syria.
He said that terrorist groups in Idleb are preparing to stage a new chemical attack, and they are training some of their members to act as if they were exposed to toxic materials so that they would be filmed by certain media outlets to frame the Syrian Arab Army.
Al-Jaafari said that attempting to exploit the suffering of Syrians by misrepresenting what is happening in Syria as merely a humanitarian issue will not dissuade Syria from carrying out its constitutional and legal duty of fighting terrorism and protecting its citizens.
Gh.A.Hassoun / Hazem Sabbagh