Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Hanoi, SANA – Speaker of the Syrian People’s Assembly Mohammad Jihad al-Laham said on Sunday that the Western plans to train and arm elements labeled by the West as “moderate opposition” in Turkey and Saudi Arabia constitute a cover for supporting terrorism and chaos in Syria, and these plants are a blatant violation of international law and the UN charter and must stop immediately.
Delivering Syria’s speech at the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) currently being held in Hanoi, Vietnam, al-Lahham said that any war on terrorism in Syria cannot succeed without coordination and cooperation with the Syrian government.
He noted that Syria had often appealed to the world and warned it against the threat of the cancerous cross-border terrorism, yet despite the world acknowledging the spread of terrorism and despite the heinous atrocities committed by terrorist organizations like ISIS and Jabhet al-Nusra, international counterterrorism efforts remain underwhelming and shackled by erroneous policies.
Al-Lahham said that what is happening in Syria and Iraq could spread to any country if terrorism isn’t uprooted via genuine efforts to combat the extremist takfiri mentality that forms its basis.
He lauded the efforts of the IPU and the parliaments of friendly countries to help the Syrian people, asserting that all honest intentions based on good will are welcome as long as they are based on mutual respect, respecting sovereignty, and non-interference in internal affairs.
The Speaker went on to say that as Syria is fighting terrorists, it continues to pursue reconciliation and gives chances to those who were misled to return to the right path, noting that the terrorism affecting Syria has disrupted the development process Syria had been leading prior to the advent of terrorists who caused considerable damage to Syria’s economy and society.
He asserted that wars and terrorism in one area have adverse effects on development in the whole world, as development depends on security and stability.
The IPU meetings began on Saturday evening with the participation of a delegation from Syria, and will continue until April 1st.
On the sideline of the IPU meetings, Speaker al-Lahham met with President of the People’s National Assembly of Algeria, Mohamed Larbi Ould Khelifa.
During the meeting, al-Lahham lauded Algeria’s stances and stressed the importance of inter-Arab cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism, as well as the need to boost Syrian-Algerian cooperation, while Ould Khelifa asserted that Algeria’s position towards Syria are principled and unchanging, and that Algeria supports finding a political solution for the crisis in Syria.
Al-Lahham also met Chairperson of the Council of the Federation Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev, with the two sides stressing the importance of boosting bilateral cooperation to deal with the escalating threat of terrorism.
Hazem Sabbagh
