SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad on Monday received Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and an accompanying delegation.
The two sides discussed the Russian-Turkish agreements reached on March 5th and the constant breaches of them by terrorist organisations, focussing on the mechanisms of implementing these agreements which involve keeping terrorists 6km away from the Aleppo-Lattakia International Highway (M4) in order to reopen it.
President al-Assad and Minister Shoygu also discussed the situation in the Syrian al-Jazeera area and the continuing theft of Syrian petroleum and resources by the United States, as well as discussing the steps taken by the Syrian state to restore security and stability across the country, and the Russian leadership’s efforts on the regional and international levels to break the embargo and lift the sanctions and isolation imposed on the Syrian people.
The two sides were in agreement on the joint policies and steps to be taken in the coming stage.
Talks also touched on the cooperation between the establishments of the two countries’ Ministries of Defence and Armed Forces, with the two sides expressing commitment to continue improving this cooperation.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces, Minister of Defence Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub, and Chairman of the National Security Bureau Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk
Also on Monday, Syrian Arab Army personnel and the people of Hamo village in Qamishli countryside intercepted a US occupation convoy that was attempting to enter the village, forcing it to leave.
A number of local people reported that the convoy, which consisted of 11 military vehicles, attempted to enter the village, but the locals intercepted it with the support of army personnel, preventing it from advancing and forcing it to return from whence it came.
On March 8th, the people of al-Kozaliya village in Tal Tamr countryside northwest of Hasaka city clashed with US occupation troops, and prevented them from passing with the support of the army.
Meanwhile Syria is taking measures to combat coronavirus.
Its Health Ministry on Monday affirmed that results of all lab analyses of the coronavirus suspected cases that have been made during the latest 24 hours were negative.
‘No new coronavirus infections are detected,’ the Media office of the Ministry said in a press statement.
Health Minister Dr. Nizar Yazigi said on Sunday that the first case of coronavirus (Covid-19) was a 20-year old woman registered in Syria in a person who had come from abroad.
In a statement given over the phone to the Syrian TV on Sunday evening, Yazigi said that the Ministry’s labs reported the first case of Coronavirus to be registered in Syria, and that all necessary measures have been taken to deal with this situation.
The Minister said the patient, a person in their twenties, had arrived from abroad, and hadn’t shown any symptoms upon entering Syria.
The Contagious and Terminal Diseases team followed up on their condition due to the fact that they came from an area where there are infections, with the tests conducted on a sample taken from the subject revealing that they were infected.
Yazigi urged citizens to exercise caution and stay at home, and commit to the procedures for protection against Coronavirus.
In the framework of the daily following up on the preventive measures to confront coronavirus, the government adopted a new group of decisions in the interest of all citizens on Sunday.
The governmental team decided, during a meeting led by Prime Minister, Imad Khamis, to allocate cars for the distribution of bread in the city centres and towns and to announce the time of their work.
The team asked all public sides to specify places at the institutions to become as windows to sell bread to citizens as a procedure to ease over crowdedness.
Information Minister, Imad Sara, presented an overview that included an observation made by media outlets about the situation of markets and prices during the latest period, and upon that, it was decided to control the prices and to import 5000 tons of potatoes.
The Ministers also instructed emergency teams to follow up the facilities which specialise in producing disinfectants and detergents to ensure the good quality of the produced materials.
Measures also included cessation of public and private transport inside cities as of Monday in the framework of preventive measures to confront coronavirus.
Complementing the government’s efforts to confront the Coronavirus (Covid-19), civil society is carrying out campaigns to distribute protective supplies and sterilise facilities, markets, and streets.
In Aleppo, a number of industrialists distributed around 3,000 protective masks, 4,000 pairs of gloves, and 3,000 bottles of sanitiser in the neighbourhoods of al-Fardous, Salah Eddin, Masaken Hanano, al-Haidariya, and the University Square.
Meanwhile in Daraa, a number of pharmacists in al-Kashef neighbourhood distributed masks, gloves, sanitisers, and rubbing alcohol for free among citizens.
In Sweida, a wide-scale sanitisation campaign was carried out by a civil group, covering storefronts, markets, streets, neighbourhoods, the industrial zone, the blocks factories area, and the national hospital, using 30 agricultural tractors with sprinklers to spray around 2500 litres of hypochlorite.
Also in Sweida, volunteers from the Family Planning Association branch’s youth centre distributed stickers to raise awareness around the city.
In Sweida’s southeastern countryside, the municipal council and civil groups carried out a cleaning and sanitisation campaign for schools, the health centre, the municipal building, roads, dumpsters, and storefronts.
The municipal council of Mardak and the local communities in the villages of Marda, Breka, and Salakhed also carried out a sanitisation campaign covering the municipal building, the farmers’ association, schools, kindergartens, the Syrian Trading retail outlet, health centre, places of worship, neighbourhoods, and streets.
President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday issued Legislative Decree No. 6 for the year 2020 granting a general amnesty for crimes committed before March 22, 2020.
The decree expanded the range of amnesty for some crimes that were not covered in previous decrees.
All this while the fight against imperialist-backed terrorists continues.
The Turkish regime and its terrorist mercenaries resumed cutting off drinking water from Hasaka province for the second day in a row on Sunday.
Director of Hasaka Water Department Mahmoud al-Ukla said the Turkish regime and its terrorist mercenaries continued for the second day to prevent water pumping from Alouk water station,.
He said that the Department is setting up al-Hemma water station which should become operational in two days to provide water if the situation continues.
Earlier on Sunday, the Turkish regime and its terrorist mercenaries deprived more than 600 thousand citizens in Hasaka city, Tal Tamer, and the surrounding population centres from drinking water by stopping work at Alouk water station.
The Turkish regime and its mercenaries had cut off the drinking water form Hasaka and its surroundings several times, as Alouk water station is the main source of drinking water for citizens in those areas.
- Lines formed outside grocery stores, banks and gas stations across Damascus on Monday, as people braced for wider closures after the government closed restaurants, cafes and other businesses, and halted public transportation.
The city’s Hamidiyeh souk, a network of covered markets running through the Old City, was deserted after the government ordered all shops closed on Sunday.
Authorities closed border crossings with Lebanon and Jordan, and Damascus International Airport was closed to commercial traffic after a final flight arrived from Moscow.
State-run newspapers issued their last print edition and will only be available online.
The daily Al-Watan quoted China’s ambassador as saying that Beijing has given Syria equipment to test 2,000 people for coronavirus.
