Posted on June 26, 2013 by Alexandra Valiente
Al-Jaafari: No meaningful conference can be held if weapons continue to flow into Syria
Jun 26, 2013
 |
New York, (SANA)_ Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said that the UN Assistant secretary-general for political affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco has not provided a complete picture of the situation in the Middle East, especially as regards the situation in the Syrian Golan.
In a press conference following a meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, al-Jaafari said that representatives of the UN secretariat have repeated the same mistake in its monthly briefing of the UNSC by ignoring the talk about the Syrian Golan and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) there.
Al-Jaafari said that the briefing ignored the Qatari role in giving instructions to terrorists to kidnap the Filipino peacekeeping personnel, not to mention the issue of chemical weapons.
He added that the briefing ignored that it was the Syrian government who requested an investigation and still welcomes Ake Sellstrom investigation team to probe the use of chemical weapons by terrorists in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo.
Answering a question on the possibility of conducting UN-led probe into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, al-Jaafari said ”Sellstrom can go to Damascus after an hour if he wants …but he wants a broader investigation… It is not for him to decide…It is about a mutual understanding that we signed with the UN Security Council depending on the request of the Syrian government on the use of chemical weapons by the armed terrorist groups in Khan al-Assal.”
”It is about the mandate that we worked on in the UN Secretariat and General Assembly…That’s why it is not personal but a firm mandate that should be committed to,” al-Jaafari said, adding that ”the Syrian government has submitted a request for investigation to the UN Secretary-General hours after the incident occurred in Khan al-Assal. Suddenly, the British and French delegations, and during closed-door talks, raised other issues related to other places and sites where they alleged chemical weapons were used.”
He added that the British and French governments did not want an investigation into Khan al-Assal case “as the Turkish government announced the detention of 12 terrorists affiliated to Jabhat al-Nusra in possession of Sarin gas in the Turkish territories who were on their way to Syria to use it, but Taranco did not see it fit to talk about it.”
”When France and Britain get deeply involved in supporting terrorists in Syria, this means that they are in no position to accuse the Syrian government of anything…They just make judgments and claim that the Syrian government was behind it…They cannot be objective and neutral as they are part of the problem, not part of the solution,” he added.
Al-Jaafari said that Syria has a written letter by the UN Secretary-General indicating that investigation will focus on Khan al-Assal, but ”British and French delegations earlier had two claims…now they have nine, and they say that something happened four months earlier that should be investigated.”
He added that Britain and France want a repetition of the Iraqi scenario in early 1990s.
Al-Jaafari said that Syria has no problem about the UN inspectors but ”we have a problem when it comes to the details related to the inspectors or the inspection mission.”
”When the Russian President Vladimir Putin said al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra have clandestine labs for manufacturing chemical weapons inside Iraq, did anyone of you hear Taranco mention it?”
On the talks between Washington and Moscow in Geneva on Tuesday, al-Jaafari said ”We were not informed of any information and we do not know what happened in Geneva…I heard what you heard from the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov who said that no progress was made.”
”As long as the US administration and the EU continue to prepare weapons to be sent to the armed terrorist groups whom they call ‘rebels’, they won’t come to the negotiating table, for they know that they are supported politically, militarily, financially and through media.”
”Why would they come to negotiations in Geneva when they are getting millions of dollars from Qataris and Saudis and receiving logistical support from the Turkish government and weapons from Western powers?”
He added that the UN has to be transparent, indicating that Syria submitted a written request to the Secretary-General to investigate the role of Qatari intelligence in kidnapping members from the Filipino peacekeeping troops in Golan, demanding that the UN Secretary-General or United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations supply the Syrian government with a written response on the outcomes of the investigation. ”In fact, they conducted no investigation.”
”The Qataris and Saudis have drowned this organization in petrol money, and the official letters that we address to the UN members and the secretary-general are there and everybody can find them on the internet…I have addressed 408 letters since the beginning of the crisis describing every single detail related to every incident.” On the international conference on Syria, al-Jaafari said that the Syrian government is committed to the importance of holding it in Geneva as opposed to ”oppositions” on the other side linked to ”foreign agendas” from where they get financial, political, and diplomatic and media support.
”The ball now is in the court of the armed terrorist groups’ sponsors to form a negotiating delegation that calls itself ‘the opposition’s delegation’ to sit with the government in Geneva.”
He affirmed that Geneva conference is a real opportunity for ending bloodshed.
Al-Jaafari said that going to Geneva is intended for sitting to the dialogue table with the representatives of the legitimate government that enjoys the support of a broad section of the Syrian people, affirming the importance that no preconditions such as the handover of power are set for going to the conference.
”We, who have legitimacy, are going to the dialogue conference to negotiate an end to violence among Syrians under Syria’s leadership according to the UNSC resolutions and Brahimi’s mission and to form a national unity government that builds Syria’s future with the participation of all…We want partners for building Syria’s future as to realize the aspirations of the Syrian people, and we do not have preconditions.”
In reply to a question of forming a national unity government, al-Jaafari said ”this is the goal of dialogue and there is no problem about it…It is for the conference and the Syrians participating in it to decide Syria’s future.”
He added that no meaningful conference can be held if weapons continue to be sent to the terrorist groups in Syria.
Al-Jaafari said that Syria has informed since the beginning of the crisis the UN Secretary-General and members on the flow of foreign gunmen who crossed borders with Lebanon, and demanded that the Lebanese government takes necessary measures for ending it, demanding that the UN does what it takes to stop the flow of terrorists from Lebanon Turkey and Jordan.
M. Ismael
In a press conference following a meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, al-Jaafari said that representatives of the UN secretariat have repeated the same mistake in its monthly briefing of the UNSC by ignoring the talk about the Syrian Golan and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) there.
Al-Jaafari said that the briefing ignored the Qatari role in giving instructions to terrorists to kidnap the Filipino peacekeeping personnel, not to mention the issue of chemical weapons.
He added that the briefing ignored that it was the Syrian government who requested an investigation and still welcomes Ake Sellstrom investigation team to probe the use of chemical weapons by terrorists in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo.
Answering a question on the possibility of conducting UN-led probe into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, al-Jaafari said ”Sellstrom can go to Damascus after an hour if he wants …but he wants a broader investigation… It is not for him to decide…It is about a mutual understanding that we signed with the UN Security Council depending on the request of the Syrian government on the use of chemical weapons by the armed terrorist groups in Khan al-Assal.”
”It is about the mandate that we worked on in the UN Secretariat and General Assembly…That’s why it is not personal but a firm mandate that should be committed to,” al-Jaafari said, adding that ”the Syrian government has submitted a request for investigation to the UN Secretary-General hours after the incident occurred in Khan al-Assal. Suddenly, the British and French delegations, and during closed-door talks, raised other issues related to other places and sites where they alleged chemical weapons were used.”
He added that the British and French governments did not want an investigation into Khan al-Assal case “as the Turkish government announced the detention of 12 terrorists affiliated to Jabhat al-Nusra in possession of Sarin gas in the Turkish territories who were on their way to Syria to use it, but Taranco did not see it fit to talk about it.”
”When France and Britain get deeply involved in supporting terrorists in Syria, this means that they are in no position to accuse the Syrian government of anything…They just make judgments and claim that the Syrian government was behind it…They cannot be objective and neutral as they are part of the problem, not part of the solution,” he added.
Al-Jaafari said that Syria has a written letter by the UN Secretary-General indicating that investigation will focus on Khan al-Assal, but ”British and French delegations earlier had two claims…now they have nine, and they say that something happened four months earlier that should be investigated.”
He added that Britain and France want a repetition of the Iraqi scenario in early 1990s.
Al-Jaafari said that Syria has no problem about the UN inspectors but ”we have a problem when it comes to the details related to the inspectors or the inspection mission.”
”When the Russian President Vladimir Putin said al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra have clandestine labs for manufacturing chemical weapons inside Iraq, did anyone of you hear Taranco mention it?”
On the talks between Washington and Moscow in Geneva on Tuesday, al-Jaafari said ”We were not informed of any information and we do not know what happened in Geneva…I heard what you heard from the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov who said that no progress was made.”
”As long as the US administration and the EU continue to prepare weapons to be sent to the armed terrorist groups whom they call ‘rebels’, they won’t come to the negotiating table, for they know that they are supported politically, militarily, financially and through media.”
”Why would they come to negotiations in Geneva when they are getting millions of dollars from Qataris and Saudis and receiving logistical support from the Turkish government and weapons from Western powers?”
He added that the UN has to be transparent, indicating that Syria submitted a written request to the Secretary-General to investigate the role of Qatari intelligence in kidnapping members from the Filipino peacekeeping troops in Golan, demanding that the UN Secretary-General or United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations supply the Syrian government with a written response on the outcomes of the investigation. ”In fact, they conducted no investigation.”
”The Qataris and Saudis have drowned this organization in petrol money, and the official letters that we address to the UN members and the secretary-general are there and everybody can find them on the internet…I have addressed 408 letters since the beginning of the crisis describing every single detail related to every incident.” On the international conference on Syria, al-Jaafari said that the Syrian government is committed to the importance of holding it in Geneva as opposed to ”oppositions” on the other side linked to ”foreign agendas” from where they get financial, political, and diplomatic and media support.
”The ball now is in the court of the armed terrorist groups’ sponsors to form a negotiating delegation that calls itself ‘the opposition’s delegation’ to sit with the government in Geneva.”
He affirmed that Geneva conference is a real opportunity for ending bloodshed.
Al-Jaafari said that going to Geneva is intended for sitting to the dialogue table with the representatives of the legitimate government that enjoys the support of a broad section of the Syrian people, affirming the importance that no preconditions such as the handover of power are set for going to the conference.
”We, who have legitimacy, are going to the dialogue conference to negotiate an end to violence among Syrians under Syria’s leadership according to the UNSC resolutions and Brahimi’s mission and to form a national unity government that builds Syria’s future with the participation of all…We want partners for building Syria’s future as to realize the aspirations of the Syrian people, and we do not have preconditions.”
In reply to a question of forming a national unity government, al-Jaafari said ”this is the goal of dialogue and there is no problem about it…It is for the conference and the Syrians participating in it to decide Syria’s future.”
He added that no meaningful conference can be held if weapons continue to be sent to the terrorist groups in Syria.
Al-Jaafari said that Syria has informed since the beginning of the crisis the UN Secretary-General and members on the flow of foreign gunmen who crossed borders with Lebanon, and demanded that the Lebanese government takes necessary measures for ending it, demanding that the UN does what it takes to stop the flow of terrorists from Lebanon Turkey and Jordan.
M. Ismael