The delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva held a meeting on Monday with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Misutra at the UN HQ in Geneva.
The delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva held a meeting on Monday with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Misutra at the UN HQ in Geneva.
In a press conference after the conclusion of the talks, head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to the intra-Syrian talks Bashar al-Jaafari said that at the beginning of the session they set aside sufficient time to discuss the danger of the provocative and unprecedented act carried out by the Israeli occupation government’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by holding a meeting in the occupied Syrian Golan.
Al-Jaafari said that the Syrian government responded to this Israeli provocation by sending two urgent letters to the UN Secretary-General and UN Security Council, calling on them to intervene immediately to condemn that meeting and request that it’s never repeated, particularly since it violates law no. 497 for 1981 which was unanimously adopted by the UNSC and which considers the Israeli occupation authority’s decision to annex the Golan null and void and without any legal effectiveness on the international level.
“We reaffirmed to de Mistura the Syrian Arab Republic’s right to recover the occupied Syrian Golan up to the 4th of June 1967 line using all legal recourses guaranteed by the UN Charter, including article 51 on the right to self defense,” he said.
Al-Jaafari stressed that this provocative behavior by Israeli against the Syrian people, state, and government affirms indisputably Israel’s cooperation with al-Nusra Front (Qaeda branch in the Levant) and ISIL terrorists who are active at the disengagement line in the occupied Syrian Golan and who occupied posts for the UNDOF.
“We had relayed repeatedly to the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations documented information on Israel’s cooperation with al-Nusra and ISIL terrorists in the occupied Golan, presenting indisputable documents to the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations regarding the Qatari-Israeli complicity regarding the abduction of the Filipino UNDOF unit,” he elaborated.
The head of the delegation went on to note that Syrian freedom fighter Sedqi al-Maqet, who was detained by Israel for 27 years – the same duration that the apartheid authorities in South Africa detained Nelson Mandela – was arrested again by the Israeli occupation for documenting with visual and audio proof the dealings between the Israelis and ISIS and al-Nusra in the Golan.
“It’s not a coincidence that the Israeli escalation by Netanyahu in the occupied Syrian Goal was accompanied at the same time by irresponsible and provocative statements by some members of the so-called Riyadh opposition delegation to the Syrian talks in Geneva, statements which for attacks on the Syrian Arab Army, breaking the cessation of hostilities agreement, and shelling Syrian towns,” al-Jaafari said, adding that the fact that these events happened concurrently proves the existence of close ties between Israel on one side, some Arabs on another side, regrettably, and the terrorists inside Syria.
“I reiterate in this regard what was quoted by one member of the Riyadh delegation, who said that an element from Ahrar al-Cham terrorist group, which is linked to al-Nusra and Al Qaeda, is present in Geneva and participating with the Saudi delegation in the meetings,” he said, noting that the mufti or spiritual guide of Ahrar al-Cham is a Saudi called Abdullah al-Muhaisni who issues “fatwas” calling for decapitation, eating livers of people, and regressing to the times of cannibalism, adding this man’s name is on the list of terrorists drafted by the UNSC.
“We told de Mistura that what the UN achieved in New York is being undone in Geneva, because the UNSC named the mufti of Ahrar al-Cham a terrorist, while the Saudi delegation brought a representative of that movement to Geneva with the acceptance of the UN,” al-Jaafari elaborated.
The head of the delegation said that at today’s discussion session with de Mistura and his team, the two sides exchanged ideas on a number of important issues related to intra-Syrian talks, noting that some of these ideas had already been raised in prior talks, while other ideas were raised for the first time.
“We presented to de Mistura a Syrian national paper including amendments and remarks on his 12-point paper, and we are waiting for him to return to us with the reactions of the opposition groups after discussing the paper,” al-Jaafari said, concluding by saying that the Syrian Arab Republic will meet again with de Mistura on Wednesday at 11 AM.
Upon their arrival in Geneva last Friday, the delegation handed de Mistura the aforementioned paper containing amendments for de Mistura’s paper on the basic principles for the political solution in Syria, which was presented by the UN Special Envoy to the delegation at the last day of the previous round of talks, and which is based on a paper presented by the delegation in the first place.
