Terrorism was chief among the issues that were tackled during a meeting between President Bashar al-Assad and Chairman of the Pakistani Senate Sayyed Nayyer Hussein Bokhari on Tuesday.
Terrorism was chief among the issues that were tackled during a meeting between President Bashar al-Assad and Chairman of the Pakistani Senate Sayyed Nayyer Hussein Bokhari on Tuesday.
Discussions focused on the necessity of adopting a principled stance to have all countries fight terrorism, with stress being laid on the need that the international community shoulder its responsibilities in this regard through encouraging collective action to help in uprooting this scourge which has become a threat to all.
A mission, both sides affirmed, should be carried out without affecting the sovereignty of countries and peoples’ right to self-determination without any foreign interference.
President al-Assad stressed in the course of the meeting, which was attended by Speaker of the People’s Assembly Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, that parliamentary cooperation among countries is of great significance as parliaments represent peoples and work to achieve their interests.
He stressed to Bokhari, who is on a three-day visit to Syria, Damascus’s support to the latter’s efforts in enhancing parliamentary work.
Syria, the President said, also supports Bokhari’s efforts seeking to turn the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, over which he is currently presiding, into an “Asian Parliament” that could be able, in cooperation with other parliaments, to work more effectively for finding solutions to the regional and international issues.
Bokhari, who is accompanied by a delegation on his visit that started yesterday, expressed confidence that the step to forge an Asian Parliament would help achieve positive results on various levels for the peoples of the Asian continent.
He also hoped that stability and peace will prevail in Syria as soon as possible.
A cross-party group of French lawmakers held talks with Syrian officials in Damascus Tuesday, the first such contacts in the Syrian capital since the closure of France's embassy there in 2012.
The delegation was led by Gerard Bapt of France's ruling Socialist Party and includes officials from the lower and upper houses of parliament. The trip was not approved by French parliament's foreign affairs committee.
They are due back in Paris Thursday.
