On the eve of the opposition conference in Damascus upon an invitation from the coordination committee, a number of committee members arrived at the Damascus Airport and were kidnapped on their way back. What is certain is that since the beginning of the preparations to hold the conference, the political decision of the Syrian state was to encourage the participants in it to hold it in Damascus without the mediation of those whose guarantee was requested, as it was announced by Mr. Hassan Abdul Azim.

Had the Syrian state carried any negative position, it would have announced that whoever had a judicial file should be subjected to the law. But it did quite the opposite and informed the mediator with its apparatuses from the coordination committee that it had no prior conditions over the staging of the conference.   

The state is honest about its wish to encourage a political solution and perceives the conference as being one of the forms of encouragement, regardless of the way it reads into the position and stand of the coordination committee. But the armed gangs had set up ambushes to carry out kidnappings and killings on that same road itself several times before.

The prevention of the conference and holding the state responsible for the kidnapping of the oppositionists who had come to participate in it was the mission of the groups of sabotage, while the Istanbul Council’s accusations of betrayal to these participants have always been proclaimed. The state is serious about pursuing this case, and if it turns out that loyalist groups were indeed behind those kidnappings, it will not allow them to sabotage the peaceful course with their extremism.

Soon, the clouds will dissipate and everything will become clear.

Arab File: Syria

Syria assured in two identical letters addressed by the Foreign Ministry to both the head of the Security Council and the secretary general of the United Nations, providing them with numerous information that became available to it in regard to the actual sides standing behind what is happening in Syria, whether in terms of the terrorist acts seen in explosions witnessed in several cities, or in terms of destruction of public and private property of the Syrian people by armed groups. The Ministry added that the Turkish government did not settle for hosting the anti-Syrian organizations that came from Arab countries among others, but also provided them with funds and weapons and opened camps to receive and train the terrorists.

It indicated that an opposition member in the Turkish parliament said regarding the refugees whom the Turkish authorities are claiming to host in camps established even before the beginning of the events in Syria: They are ultra-religious fighters. What can guarantee that these fighters will not – one day – fight against Turkey?

The Ministry then concluded its letters by stating: The ongoing silence towards these crimes in the context of the immoral alliances between Turkey, some influential states at the Security Council and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Libya, which is dispatching arms shipments to Syria’s neighboring states and funding terrorism and massacres against the Syrian people, constitutes support of terrorism and fueling of hatred, killings and terrorism. It thus warned these regional and international sides against continuation of these activities, as they could one day backfire on them.   

Syria’s envoy to the human rights council affiliated with the United Nations, Faisal al-Hamawi, assured that international investigation commission’s report on Syria lacked accuracy and objectivity and disregarded numerous facts, namely talk about the role played by some international and regional sides in fueling the crisis in Syria, through media instigation and provision of funds, weapons and training to mercenaries and Al-Qaeda elements before introducing them in Syria.  

Al-Hamawi said prolongation of the crisis in Syria – which is the goal of the United States and its tools in the region – the ongoing provision of funds and weapons to terrorist groups and training of Takfiri mercenaries being brought in from Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya among others, will not help and will backfire. These mercenaries are time bombs which will later explode in the countries supporting them, once they fulfill their mission in Syria.  

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Iran and Turkey held a special meeting to tackle the Syrian crisis at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi proposed to his counterparts that Tehran hosts the upcoming meeting, indicating that observers from the four states could “supervise an operation aiming at putting an end to the violence in Syria.” The proposal featured a solution suggesting the concomitant proclamation of a ceasefire between both sides, the necessity to seek a peaceful solution “far away from any foreign intervention,” discontinuation of the flow of financial and military support to the armed groups, launching of dialogue between the Syrian regime and the opposition, and the formation of a national reconciliation committee that would include all the sides.

The Egyptian foreign minister assured: “If the situation continues to deteriorate, Syria will not be the only to pay the price, rather the entire region.”    

In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to learn about the Cairo visit. He assured that Syria showed openness in dealing with all initiatives put forth to seek a solution to the crisis, but stressed need to respect Syrian sovereignty, the free decision of the Syrian people and rejection of foreign interference. President Al-Assad added: “The current battle targets the entire resistance system, and not just Syria.”    

Protests over the offensive film

The protests against the offensive film produced in the United States continued in a number of countries of the Arab and Islamic world, leading to a number of dead and wounded during clashes with the police.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah appeared at a demonstration in the Southern Suburb of Beirut, to condemn the offense against Prophet Muhammad. He called for boycotting websites insisting on carrying the offensive clips. He also called for pressures to get the Security Council to issue an international resolution and national laws throughout the world incriminating offenses against religions and prophets.