SPEAKING in Damascus on Monday, Information Minister, Omran al-Zoubi, reiterated that the political leadership in Syria is still committed to the political solution which it has called for since the beginning of the crisis in Syria.
‘The leadership also believes that the national dialogue is the essence of the political Solution,’ Al-Zoubi said in his speech at the 50th anniversary of establishing al-Thawra newspaper on Monday.
‘The national dialogue among the Syrians has no place for any Saudi, Gulf, Turkish, Lebanese, Jordanian or non-Syrian figures,’ the Minister added.
He confirmed that ‘whoever talks in a sectarian or ethnic language at any time with the aim of differentiation or structural independence or for the dissemination of his culture, betrays Syria and the homeland and this is a great treason.’
The Information Minister stressed that ‘Syria in itself is a national identity which has its specifications and data and can be identified by its features.
‘It is crystal-clear that the ability of the Muslim Brotherhood, as a political system, to present an example for managing the authority and running the state has failed forever,’ he said.
Al-Zoubi pointed out that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was able, over the past year, to defame the state in terms of its concept, experience, and the institution’s experiments as they offered the worst example of their experience in leading a country.
Minister al-Zoubi pointed out that the Muslim Brotherhood is distinguished by exceptional ability to devastate the political example and the national unity which was their first victim in Egypt.
Regarding the situation in Turkey, al-Zoubi said ‘it was clear that the (ruling) Justice and Development Party (of prime minister Erdogan) is an unqualified example for leading a state that enjoys all this pluralism and history of the political, social and cultural life.’
Meanwhile the Syrian Army continued to press forward on Monday.
In Hasaka province, units of the armed forces destroyed terrorist gatherings and hideouts in Tal Hamis and some villages, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists.
Units of the armed forces destroyed terrorists’ gatherings in Tal Hamis and the villages of Abu Kasab, Kharab Askar and Bahri Farm, killing and injuring a number of terrorists, among them Naser Abdul-Bari and Mohammad Abdul-Bari.
Army units eliminated a number of terrorists and injured others in the town of Harasta in Damascus Countryside, including terrorist leader Mahmoud Affouf and most of his group’s members.
In Douma, the Army carried out a special operation targeting a terrorist hideout in al-Ebb farms, resulting in the elimination of terrorists Raed al-Mleih and Yasin Jaradeh.
Army units continued pursuing terrorists in Jobar, eliminating a number of them including Abd al-Mu’ti Sadqa, while another unit destroyed a terrorist hideout along with the weapons inside it in Erbin, killing a number of terrorists including Saeed Kranbeh, Mohammad Taifour, and Abu al-Hareth al-Muwahhed.
In the eastern Ghouta area, Armed Forces units continued pursuing terrorists in the farms around the towns of al-Bahariya and al-Qasimiya, destroying their weapons and munitions and eliminating a number of them including Hatem Talla’a.
In al-Fakhoura area, near Halboun mountains in the northern Damascus Countryside, Army units clashed with terrorists and eliminated a number of them including Mu’taz Zahra.
In the southern Damascus Countryside, an Army unit carried out a special operation targeting a terrorist gathering, destroying a heavy machinegun and a mortar launcher and eliminating a terrorist leader named Noureddin al-Buqa’i and most of his group’s members including Abbad al-Lways.
The Army also eliminated a terrorist gathering in Khan al-Sheih area and destroyed their equipment.
The armed forces continued operations against the armed terrorist groups in several areas in Aleppo province, eliminating scores of them.
A number of terrorists’ hideouts were destroyed near al-Kindi Hospital and scores of the terrorists were killed.
Army units clashed with terrorists who tried to attack Aleppo’s Central Prison and killed dozens of the attackers.
Another army unit eliminated the members of an armed terrorist group on Aleppo-Idleb highway, destroying anti-armour and anti-aircraft rockets in addition to other weapons and munitions.
A number of terrorists were killed after the army repelled an attempt by terrorists to attack Mennigh airport.
The army also killed three terrorists in al-Lairamon, and destroyed their weaponry, which included a mortar launcher.
In Aleppo city, the army clashed with terrorist groups in the Old City and eliminated scores of them.
Another army unit targeted and destroyed terrorists’ gatherings in the areas of Karm al-Qatarji and al-Sheikh Maksoud.
Army units destroyed terrorist hideouts in gatherings in the neighbourhoods of al-Khalidiye, al-Qarabis and Bab Houd in Homs city, leaving many terrorists dead or injured.
Army units pursued terrorist groups in the fields of al-Ghouta, Teldo, Kafrlaha, al-Ghanto, al-Rastan and al-Dar al Kabireh in Homs countryside, eliminating a number of them and destroying their weapons, munitions and equipment.
Other units of the Armed forces restored security and stability to al-Ein al-Janoubiya and al-Sharkia farms in al-Qaryatin after eliminating the last terrorist gatherings in it, uncovering tunnels containing assorted weapons and ammo, and dismantling dozens of explosive devices planted by terrorists on roads.
Units of the armed forces clashed with armed terrorist groups in al-Huwika neighborhood and al-Marea’eh village in Deir Ezzor, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists.
All members of an armed terrorist group were killed in al-Huwika neighbourhood and their weapons and ammunition were destroyed.
Terrorist Ghassan Jaber al-Hazaa was identified among the dead.
Also, a unit of the armed forces killed a number of terrorists who were cutting the roads and committing looting acts on the road of al-Marea’eh village, destroying their weapons and tools.
An armed clash erupted between two terrorist groups, one of them affiliated to Jabhat al-Nusra, due to a dispute over sharing the stolen goods in Mohassan city in Deir Ezzor.
An official source in the province said that the clash resulted in the killing and injuring most of the members of the two terrorist groups, among them Khalaf Habdeh al-Abed, and Khaled Turki Mahmoud al-Jassem from Jabhat al-Nusra.
• President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday issued law no. 11 for 2013 which adds a new article to the penal code to cover involving children in combat activities.
The new article stipulates for a penalty of a sentence of penal labour for 10-20 years and a fine of 1-3 million Syrian pounds to individuals who recruit a child under 18 for the purpose of involving them in combat activities or other related activities.
The sentence is extended to penal labour for life if the recruitment results in a permanent disability to the child or if the child suffers sexual assault or is given narcotics or any mind-influencing substances, and the sentence is extended to the death penalty if the child dies.
The updated penal code punishes everyone who recruits a child under 18 for the purposes for involving them in combat activities, carrying and transporting weapons or equipment or ammunition, planting explosions, standing watch at checkpoints or carrying out surveillance or reconnaissance, acting as a distraction or human shield, or assisting or serving the perpetrators in any way or form.
The penal code now punishes those who force another person to have intercourse through violence or threats with a life sentence of penal labour, and the punishment becomes the death sentence if the crime is against someone under 15 and/or if the crime is carried out with the victim at gunpoint.
