Mikdad: western countries which stood by apartheid system didn’t change their policies

Damascus, SANA-Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Fayssal Mikdad said Monday western countries which have stood by the apartheid system didn’t change their policies as they launch an attack on Syria sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“The West now supports a new form of the apartheid; mainly the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organizations and other ones that try to target the Syrian people and their independence,” Mikdad said in a speech at a celebration held by South Africa Republic Embassy on the 20^th anniversary of getting rid of the apartheid regime.

He added that Syria was and still is part of South African people’s struggle to get their freedom and independence from the apartheid system, referring to the similarity between this “dead regime” and the Zionist entity which continues its occupation of the Arab lands.

Mikdad hailed the pioneering role played by South Africa in the African Union, referring to the strong ties connecting the two leaderships and peoples in Syria and South Africa which face the same enemy.

“Syria stands by the African peoples,” Mikdad said, adding that Syria is proud of the late leader Nelson Mandela just as proud of the late leader Hafez al-Assad.

He affirmed Syria will come out of the crisis victorious thanks to the struggle of its people and the support of its friends, including the BRICS countries.

For his part, South African Ambassador in Damascus Shaun Byneveldt affirmed his country’s support to Syria, saying “today’s celebration is not a coincidence, but is a form of solidarity with Syria to strengthen relations with it and unify the stances of the world nations.”

He thanked Syria for its support to South Africa to gain its freedom and justice, affirming that society to which his country seeks to achieve is not different from that in Syria and Palestine where all can complete their studies, educations and build their counties.

Mazen Eyon