‘THE cowardly US aggression against positions of the Syrian Arab army in the surroundings of Deir Ezzor Airport is evidence of the support provided by the US and its allies to the ISIS terrorist organisation.’
Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN and Head of the Syrian delegation to the 17th Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Margarita Island in Venezuela, was delivering the statement of the Syrian Arab Republic before that summit on Sunday.
He added that achieving the joint goal of eliminating terrorism requires unifying and coordinating efforts to fight the terrorist organisations which are active in Syria and Iraq. He indicated that the Syrian Government has been open to any honest initiatives and efforts to help it get out of the current crisis, affirming Syria’s readiness today to effectively participate in any honest effort that aims at reaching a political solution which allows the Syrians to decide their choices through the inter-Syrian dialogue and under a Syrian leadership without any foreign interference.
Al-Jaafari said that since the conferences of Bandung and Belgrade, the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement have agreed on respecting the sovereignty of the states and non-interference in their internal affairs, in addition to solving conflicts through peaceful means and rejecting the unilateral coercive measures imposed on any member state.
He added that regrettably, some member states of the Non-Aligned Movement have never respected the principles of the Movement, particularly the regimes of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. These have worked on spreading the Takfiri Wahhabi mentality across the world over the past five years in a way that distorted the image of Arabs and Islam, and they interfered in other countries’ affairs under flimsy pretexts that violate the UN Charter, international law and the principles of the Movement.
Al-Jaafari said that some regimes formed Arab, Islamic or international alliances outside the framework of the international legitimacy under the pretext of fighting terrorism with the aim of using terrorism as a political weapon to topple the legitimate regimes by force. He strongly condemned the blatant aggression launched by the Western forces and Turkey against the Syrian territories, calling for immediately ending it without any delay.
Al-Jaafari affirmed that fighting terrorism couldn’t be done through expelling the ISIS and other terrorist organisations and allowing other terrorist groups to take their place with a direct support by the US and the ruling regimes in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
He added that the only effective way to combat terrorism is the implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the establishment of an unbiased international alliance within the framework of international legitimacy and the participation of all states concerned, particularly the Syrian and Iraqi governments that fight against terrorism on behalf of the entire world.
Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN highly appreciated the support provided by Russia, Iran and other friendly countries upon the Syrian government’s request which helped achieve decisive victories on the armed terrorist groups and restore the security and stability to several areas of the Syrian cities.
Al-Jaafari stressed that the US air force committed a blatant aggression against the Syrian sovereignty when five US Air Force aircrafts attacked a Syrian military position at al-Tharda Mountain surroundings Deir Ezzor Airport on the Syrian-Iraqi borders causing the death of dozens and the injury of hundreds of Syrian soldiers and officers.
He noted that the ISIS attack on the same position to take control over it, immediately after the US airstrike, is a clear evidence on coordination between this terrorist organisation and the US, indicating that the US Administration’s claim that what happened was an ‘unintentional mistake’ is but a false allegation to evade the implementation of the Russian-US agreement.
He stressed that the cowardly US aggression is a flagrant aggression on the Syrian state and army and proves the US and its allies’ support to the ISIS and other terrorist organisations as well as it exposes the falsity of US claims in fighting terrorism. Syria calls on NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) member states to condemn this aggression, hold the United States accountable for the attack and to ask the American administration to apologise to the Syrian government for this severe act, to promise not to repeat such attacks and to respect Syria’s sovereignty, the unity of its people and territorial integrity as well as the UN Security Council’s resolutions on counter-terrorism, the international law and the UN’s Charter’ said al-Jaafari.
Al-Jaafari added that five and a half years ago, Syria was one of safest and most stable countries in the world, but this image was suddenly and dramatically changed as some Arab, regional and western countries adopted anti-Syria policies and conspired on the country to kill its people, destroy its infrastructure and deplete its natural resources bringing terrorists and mercenaries from all over the world to achieve their goals.
He stressed that the first and last one who is responsible for the suffering of the Syrians are those governments which claimed that they are friends of the Syrian people, particularly the US, France, Britain and their tools in the region (Qatari, Saudi and Turkish regimes), adding that some of these countries have facilitated the flow of tens of thousands of terrorists and mercenaries across the borders, others have smuggled thousands of tons of weapons while few of them have established training camps to train terrorists how to commit the most heinous crimes.
Moreover, some of these countries have spent billions of petrodollars to fund terrorists in Syria while others used its media outlets to fuel chaos and sectarian strife and legitimise the presence of these armed groups under different nominations such as the ‘moderate opposition’ or ‘moderate armed opposition’.
He pointed to the Israeli entity’s direct support to the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organisation in the separation zone in the occupied Syrian Golan and the treatment of its members in Israeli hospitals. Al-Jaafari stated that the terrorist war on Syria has been accompanied by the imposition of unjust economic siege and unilateral sanctions, in another violation of the UN’s Charter and the principles of the international law and the NAM organisation, which has doubled the suffering of the Syrian people and forced the majority of them to leave their houses seeking a better life elsewhere.
He added that the terrorist war waged on Syria with the participation of tens of countries has distorted the noble values of diplomacy and exposed the fragility of international law and the weakness of UN mechanisms, and uncovered the political hypocrisy in international relations.
Al-Jaafari reiterated Syria’s support to Venezuela’s leadership, government and people in the face of the conspiracies plotted by the US and its allies, calling upon the NAM member states to take a firm and unified stance to express solidarity with Venezuela. At the beginning of his speech, al-Jaafari extended President Bashar al-Assad’s congratulation to President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela on assuming the presidency of the 17th NAM Summit. He also expressed appreciation to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for chairing the NAM summit during 2012-2016.
• About four million students in Syria headed on Sunday to their schools on the first day of the new school year 2016-2017. The students are distributed among 15,000 schools that have been making all preparations to receive them in all the Syrian provinces. In Sweida province, around 100,000 students headed to their schools.
Head of Sweida Education Directorate Haitham Naeem said that 555 schools have been supplied with all that is needed for the basic education and secondary education stages in all areas in the province, adding that repairs and maintenance in 17 schools have been accomplished in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
He pointed out that the 47,000 school bags provided by the UNICEF will be distributed among students from the 1st grade to 4th grade, and there are efforts to include 5th and 6th grade students in the distribution process. In turn, head of Hama Education Directorate Yahya Abd al-Ghani affirmed that 275 health workers have been distributed among the schools in the province to maintain a healthy and clean environment in them.
84,000 students and 3,255 teachers headed to 181 schools in Quneitra province, where the Education Directorate finished maintenance in 57 schools in safe areas in the province with a cost of SYP 266 million in cooperation with international donor organisations. In Homs, about 350,000 students headed to their schools, and the head of the Education Directorate Ahmad Ibrahim and UNICEF representative of Faz Shah paid a visit to a number of schools in the city of Homs and distributed school bags to the students.
Ibrahim said that the educational process is going excellently in the entire province’s schools. In the coastal province of Tartous, around 252,000 students headed to 1,310 schools distributed in all the province areas. Head of Education Directorate in Tartous Abdelkarim Harba said that the directorate, in preparation for the new school year, carried out maintenance work in 135 schools at a cost of SYP 74 million, adding that in 2015-2016 school year the province received 55,000 displaced students and dedicated five schools that are near their housing centres for them, in addition to all the province’s schools that are receiving displaced students, noting that enrolment for displaced students is still open.
Meanwhile in Hasaka, the Education Directorate said that 200,000 students headed to their schools which consist of 200 secondary education schools, 200 schools for the second phase of the basic education stage and 2,000 schools for basic education students (from 1st grade to 6th grade).
It’s worth mentioning that in the 2015-2016 school year, around 15,000 schools received 4,134,047 students, while the number of the workers at the education sector was around 311,914 in all provinces. On a relevant note, Prime Minister Imad Khamis toured a number of schools in Damascus and inspected their readiness to receive students.
After the tour, the Premier met the educational team at the Education Ministry which briefed him on the steps taken to ensure the success of the educational process and develop it. The tour and the meeting were also attended by the Ministers of Education, Social Affairs and Labour, Information, and Culture, along with the Governor of Damascus and the head of the Teachers Syndicate.
In a statement after the meeting, Education Minister Hazwan al-Waz said that launching the 2016-2017 school year sends a message to the world proving the Syrians’ determination to continue with their lives and pursue knowledge and education.
Meanwhile, Social Affairs and Labour Minister Rima al-Qadiri and Information Minister Mohammad Ramez Tourjman said the meeting stressed the importance of integration among ministries and authorities to improve the education sector and strengthen it, in addition to discussing issues like kindergartens, students with special needs, and early childhood.