MaliaJYy - White House Menolak Penggubal undang-undang, Public di Syria. White House telah melaksanakan semua keluar menolak untuk meyakinkan ahli-ahli Kongres dan rakyat Amerika bahawa serangan tentera ke atas Syria adalah wajar, berikutan serangan senjata kimia yang membunuh beratus-ratus.
White House Pushes Lawmakers, Public on Syria. The White House has undertaken an all out push to convince members of Congress and the American people that a military strike on Syria is warranted, following the chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds.
Serangan Kimia Adalah Provokasi Pemberontak,
kata bekas tawanan . . .
AFP Photo/Louai Abo Al-Jo – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
MaliaJYy - (RT. Published September 10, 2013) Serangan kimia adalah provokasi pemberontak, kata bekas tawanan. Guru Pierre Piccinin Belgium dan Itali wartawan Domenico Quiric, kedua-duanya telah diculik dan dijadikan tebusan selama beberapa bulan di Syria, berkata, mereka terdengar dalam pertukaran antara menangkap mereka yang pemberontak di belakang serangan kimia baru-baru ini. .
Dalam beberapa temu bual kepada berita Eropah ‘news outlets’, bekas tebusan berkata, mereka terdengar perbualan Skype bahasa Inggeris antara yang menangkap mereka dan orang-orang lain yang mencadangkan ia adalah pasukan pemberontak - bukan kerajaan - bahawa senjata kimia yang digunakan pada penduduk awam Syria 21 Ogos dalam bulan serangan berhampiran Damsyik.
“Ia adalah satu tanggungjawab moral untuk mengatakan ini. Kerajaan Bashar Al ‘Assad tidak menggunakan gas sarin atau lain-lain jenis gas di pinggir Damsyik, “kata Piccinin dalam satu temu bual dengan stesen radio RTL Belgium.
Piccinin menegaskan bahawa ketika sedang ditahan, beliau dan rakan-rakan banduan Quirico adalah terpencil dari DUNIA luar dan tidak tahu bahawa senjata kimia telah digunakan. Tetapi perbualan yang kedua-dua lelaki terdengar mencadangkan bahawa penggunaan senjata adalah satu langkah strategik oleh pembangkang, yang bertujuan untuk mendapatkan Barat untuk campur tangan.
“Dalam perbualan ini, mereka berkata bahawa serangan gas di 2 kawasan kejiranan Damsyik telah dilancarkan oleh pemberontak sebagai satu provokasi untuk memimpin Barat untuk campur tangan ketenteraan,” Quirico memberitahu La Stampa Itali. “Kami menyedari bahawa segala-galanya yang berlaku semasa kami ditahan di Syria, dan dengan itu juga dengan serangan gas di Damsyik.”
Ketika menyatakan bahawa pemberontak yang paling mungkin dibesar-besarkan kemalangan itu dalam kematian, wartawan Itali menegaskan bahawa beliau tidak dapat memberi jaminan sama ada “perbualan itu adalah berdasarkan fakta-fakta sebenar”. Bagaimanapun, beliau berkata, salah satu daripada 3 orang dalam perbualan yang dikatakan itu memperkenalkan dirinya sebagai General Free Syrian Army, La Stampa melaporkan.
Berdasarkan apa yang kedua-dua lelaki telah belajar, Peccinin RTL memberitahu bahawa ia akan menjadi “Gila dan membunuh diri bagi Barat untuk menyokong orang-orang ini.”
“Ia saya sakit untuk mengatakan ia kerana saya penyokong sengit Free Syrian Army dalam perjuangan yang sah untuk demokrasi sejak 2012, “tambah Piccinin.
Chemical attack was rebel provocation, former captives say
Belgian teacher Pierre Piccinin and Italian journalist Domenico Quiric, both of whom were abducted and held hostage for several months in Syria, said they overheard in an exchange between their captors that rebels were behind the recent chemical attack.
In a number of interviews to European news outlets, the former hostages said they overheard an English-language Skype conversation between their captors and other men which suggested it was rebel forces – not the government - that used chemical weapons on Syria’s civilian population in an August 21 attack near Damascus.
“It is a moral duty to say this. The government of Bashar al-Assad did not use sarin gas or other types of gas in the outskirts of Damascus,” Piccinin said during an interview with Belgium's RTL radio station.
Piccinin stressed that while being held captive, he and fellow prisoner Quirico were secluded from the outside world and had no idea that chemical weapons were deployed. But the conversation which both men overheard suggested that the use of the weapons was a strategic move by the opposition, aimed at getting the West to intervene.
"In this conversation, they said that the gas attack on two neighborhoods of Damascus was launched by the rebels as a provocation to lead the West to intervene militarily,” Quirico told Italy’s La Stampa. "We were unaware of everything that was going on during our detention in Syria, and therefore also with the gas attack in Damascus."
While stating that the rebels most likely exaggerated the accident’s death toll, the Italian journalist stressed that he could not vouch whether “the conversation was based on real facts." However, he said that one of the three people in the alleged conversation identified himself as a Free Syrian Army general, La Stampa reported.
Based on what both men have learned, Peccinin told RTL that it would be “insane and suicidal for the West to support these people.”
“It pains me to say it because I've been a fierce supporter of the Free Syrian Army in its rightful fight for democracy since 2012," Piccinin added.
Warganegara Belgium Pierre Piccinin (kiri) kapal terbang berpelukan pada 9 September 2013 pada Ciampino lapangan terbang tentera di Rom (Belgian national Pierre Piccinin (L) disembark from the airplane on September 9, 2013 at Ciampino military airport in Rome (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
Quirico seolah-olah bersetuju dengan penilaian Peccini ini.
“Saya amat terkejut bahawa Amerika Syarikat boleh berfikir berselang, mengetahui dengan baik bagaimana revolusi Syria telah menjadi jihadism antarabangsa - dalam erti kata lain Al ‘Qaeda ,” kata Quirico, seperti yang dipetik oleh Itali Quotidiano Nazionale.
La Stampa wartawan 62-tahun percaya bahawa radikal kumpulan-kumpulan Islam yang beroperasi di Syria untuk menggulingkan Assad “mahu mewujudkan khalifah dan melanjutkan ke seluruh Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara.”
Dalam beberapa penampilan berita, kedua-dua Quirico dan Piccinin berkongsi kisah bagaimana mereka tertakluk kepada 2 hukuman olok-olok, dipukul, dan kebuluran semasa mereka ditawan 5 bulan.
“Ini telah menjadi bulan yang sangat sukar. Kami telah dipukul setiap hari, kami mengalami 2 hukuman mati olok-olok ,” Quirico kepada pemberita selepas tiba di Rome, AFP melaporkan.
Quirico seems to agree with Peccini’s assessment.
“I am extremely surprised that the United States could think about intervening, knowing very well how the Syrian revolution has become international jihadism – in other words Al-Qaeda," Quirico said, as quoted by Italy’s Quotidiano Nazionale.
The 62-year-old La Stampa journalist believes that radical Islamic groups operating in Syria to topple Assad “want to create a caliphate and extend it to the entire Middle East and North Africa.”
In a number of news appearances, both Quirico and Piccinin shared stories of how they were subjected to two mock executions, beaten, and starved during their five-month captivity.
"These have been very tough months. We were beaten on a daily basis, we suffered two mock executions," Quirico told reporters upon his arrival in Rome, AFP reported.
Wartawan Itali Domenico Quirico kapal terbang berpelukan pada 9 September 2013 pada Ciampino lapangan terbang tentera di Rom (Italian journalist Domenico Quirico disembark from the airplane on September 9, 2013 at Ciampino military airport in Rome (AFP Photo – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
“Ada kadang-kadang keganasan sebenar . . . penghinaan, buli, hukuman mati olok-olok . . . Domenico menghadapi 2 hukuman mati olok-olok, dengan pistol,” kata Piccinin memberitahu RTL .
Kedua-dua lelaki telah diculik di Syria April lalu oleh sekumpulan lelaki bersenjata di trak pikap yang dipercayai dari Free Syrian Army.
Menurut Piccinin, yang menangkapnya tidak lama lagi dipindahkan ke pasukan Abu Amma, kumpulan pemberontak “penjahat banyak daripada Islam.”
“Kami telah berpindah banyak sekitar. . . ia tidak semestinya kumpulan yang sama yang ada dgn kami, terdapat kumpulan yang sangat ganas, yang anti- Barat dan sesetengah anti-Kristian,” kata Piccinin.
Kedua-dua lelaki cuba melarikan diri 2 kali tetapi usaha mereka tidak berjaya, mendorong kumpulan pemberontak untuk menghukum mereka atas tindakan mereka.
Kerajaan Itali telah mengumumkan pada hari Ahad bahawa kedua-dua lelaki telah dibebaskan selepas Rome dipergiatkan rundingan dengan pemberontak untuk melepaskan tahanan mendahului serangan Amerika Syarikat yang dijangkakan di Syria.
Ada lagi 13 wartawan masih dipercayai hilang di Syria, menurut Wartawan Tanpa Sempadan.
"There was sometimes real violence...humiliation, bullying, mock executions...Domenico faced two mock executions, with a revolver," Piccinin told RTL.
Both men were kidnapped in Syria last April by a group of armed men in pickup trucks who were believed to be from Free Syrian Army.
According to Piccinin, the captors soon transferred them over to the Abu Ammar brigade, a rebel group "more bandit than Islamist."
"We were moved around a lot...it was not always the same group that held us, there were very violent groups, very anti-West and some anti-Christian," Piccinin said.
Both men tried to escape twice but their attempts were unsuccessful, prompting the rebel group to punish them for their actions.
The Italian government announced on Sunday that both men had been freed after Rome intensified negotiations with the rebels for the release of the prisoners ahead of an anticipated US strike on Syria.
Another 13 journalists are still believed to be missing in Syria, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Kerry memberikan Syria 7 hari untuk melepaskan Senjata kimia . . .
Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry (US secretary of State John Kerry (AFP Photo/Alastair Grant/Pool - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
MaliaJYy - Kerry memberikan Syria 7 hari untuk melepaskan senjata kimia. Setiausaha Negara John Kerry mengatakan hari Isnin bahawa Presiden Syria Bashar Al ‘Assad mempunyai 1 minggu untuk melepaskan senjata terhadap senjata kimia atau lain menjadi sasaran serangan tentera Amerika Syarikat.
Menjawab kepada pemberita pada sidang akhbar di London awal Isnin, Encik Kerry ditawarkan kata yang memerlukan pemimpin Syria untuk menyerahkan apa sahaja yang kekal bahan kimia dilaporkan simpanan senjata untuk mengelakkan serangan dari Amerika Syarikat.
“Pasti, dia boleh berubah atas setiap bit tunggal senjata kimia kepada masyarakat antarabangsa pada minggu depan - menjadikan ia banyak, semua itu tanpa berlengah-lengah dan membenarkan perakaunan penuh dan jumlahnya, tetapi dia kira-kira tidak untuk melakukannya dan ia tidak boleh dilakukan, “kata Kerry pada sidang akhbar itu.
Menurut Reuters, Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat berkata Kerry telah membuat hujah yang retorik. Sebagai penggubal undang-undang di Washington bersedia untuk menimbang dalam sama ada atau tidak membenarkan penggunaan kuasa tentera terhadap Assad, bagaimanapun, serangan Amerika Syarikat ke atas kerajaan Assad kekal kemungkinan yang amat nyata.
White House dan ahli-ahli berpangkat tinggi Kongres sama telah berkali-kali menggesa ahli-ahli politik Amerika untuk ‘sign-off’ pada serangan bertujuan untuk teguran Assad untuk kegunaan yang didakwa beliau senjata kimia di luar Damsyik pada 21 Ogos. Pegawai-pegawai Amerika Syarikat berkata lebih daripada 1,400 orang Syria telah diserang dgn gas beracun kepada kematian semasa serangan itu, walaupun Pres. Assad masih berkeras bahawa dia tidak bertanggungjawab.
Presiden Barack Obama dan Encik Kerry berkata mereka mahu serangan tentera terhad terhadap Assad untuk menunjukkan bahawa Amerika Syarikat tidak akan bertolak ansur dengan penggunaan senjata kimia terhadap orang awam. Setiausaha negeri dijangka memberi taklimat kepada Kongres pada hari Isnin selepas pulang dari UK, dan Pres. Obama akan menangani negara itu dalam satu kenyataan di televisyen petang berikutnya.
Sebelum meninggalkan London, Sec. Kerry berkata, “Kami akan dapat memegang Bashar Al ‘Assad bertanggungjawab tanpa melibatkan diri dalam tentera di atas darat atau apa-apa jenis lain yang berpanjangan usaha dalam sangat disasarkan, sangat usaha jangka pendek yang sangat terhad yang mempersendakan keupayaannya untuk menyampaikan senjata kimia tanpa menganggap tanggungjawab untuk perang saudara di Syria.”
Di tengah-tengah kebimbangan bahawa campur tangan dalam konflik dalaman akan melancarkan Amerika Syarikat ke perang yang lain, Kerry menambah bahawa White House tidak mahu lebih daripada “jenis kecil unbelievably, terhad usaha.” Di luar Washington, walaupun, penggunaan kuasa tentera kekal sebahagian besarnya yang tidak diingini.
Menurut keputusan pungutan suara CNN dijalankan pada hujung minggu, 59% peratus rakyat Amerika berkata mereka menentang serangan ketenteraan di Syria, dan hampir 3 merangkak daripada mereka yang ditinjau berkata serangan udara tidak akan mencapai “matlamat penting” untuk Amerika Syarikat.
Sementara itu, penyokong campur tangan mengatakan mereka adalah lebih pasti berbanding sebelum ini yang diluluskan Assad serangan bulan lalu. Kerry mendakwa bahawa seluruh masyarakat perisikan Amerika Syarikat kini percaya Assad mengarahkan serangan senjata kimia, dan berkata, hanya 3 orang - Assad, salah satu daripada saudara-saudaranya dan senior general - yang bertanggungjawab.
Assad memberitahu CBS News pada hari Ahad bahawa Amerika harus “mengharapkan setiap tindakan” jika serangan diperintahkan di Washington. Keesokan harinya, Kerry berkata Presiden Syria , “Ini adalah seorang lelaki tanpa kredibiliti.”
Kenyataan Kerry di London yang dibuat dalam penampilan bersama dengan William Hague, Menteri Luar British. “Kerajaan kami menyokong objektif untuk memastikan bahawa tidak ada sewenang-wenangnya untuk kegunaan pertama peperangan kimia pada abad ke-21,” kata Encik Hague semasa presser itu “Sebagai masyarakat antarabangsa, kita mesti menghalang serangan lagi dan memegang mereka yang bertanggungjawab untuk mereka yang bertanggungjawab.”
Kerry gives Syria One Week to Relinquish Chemical Weapons
Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has one week to give up his arsenal of chemical weapons or else become the target of a US military strike.
Answering to a reporter during a press conference in London early Monday, Mr. Kerry offered an ultimatum which would require the Syrian leader to turn over whatever remains of a reported chemical weapons stockpile in order to avoid an attack from the United States.
"Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week - turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting, but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done," Kerry said at the press conference.
According to Reuters, the US State Department said Kerry was making a rhetorical argument. As lawmakers in Washington ready to weigh in on whether or not to authorize the use of military force against Assad, however, an American-led attack on Assad’s government remains a very real possibility.
The White House and high-ranking members of Congress alike have repeatedly urged American politicians to sign-off on a strike meant to reprimand Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons outside of Damascus on August 21. US officials say more than 1,400 Syrians were gassed to death during that assault, though Pres. Assad remains adamant that he was not responsible.
President Barack Obama and Mr. Kerry said they want a limited military strike against Assad in order to demonstrate that the US will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against civilians. The secretary of state is expected to brief members of Congress on Monday after returning from the UK, and Pres. Obama will address the nation in a televised statement the following evening.
Before leaving London, Sec. Kerry said, “We will be able to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable without engaging in troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria’s civil war.”
Amid concerns that intervening in that internal conflict will launch the US into another war, Kerry added that the White House wants nothing more than an “unbelievably small, limited kind of effort.” Outside of Washington, though, the use of military force remains largely unwanted. According to the results of a CNN poll conducted over the weekend, 59 percent of Americans said they are against a military strike on Syria, and nearly three-fours of those surveyed said airstrikes would not achieve “significant goals” for the US.
Meanwhile, proponents of intervention say they are more certain than ever that Assad approved last month’s assault. Kerry claimed that the entire US intelligence community now believes Assad ordered the chemical weapons attack, and said only three people - Assad, one of his brothers and a senior general - are responsible.
Assad told CBS News on Sunday that America should “expect every action” if a strike is ordered in Washington. The next day, Kerry said of the Syrian president, “This is a man without credibility.”
Kerry’s remarks in London were made during a joint appearance with William Hague, the British foreign secretary. “Our government supports the objective of ensuring that there can be no impunity for the first use of chemical warfare in the 21st century,” Mr. Hague said during the presser “As an international community we must deter further attacks and hold those responsible for them accountable.”
Kongres Charade: Kebanyakan di Capitol Hill bergoyang
terhadap Syria menangis perang . . .
MaliaJYy - AMARAN: Rakaman Grafik! Kongres Charade: Kebanyakan di Capitol Hill bergoyang terhadap Syria menangis perang. Dengan jari Barack Obama teguh di atas mencetuskan campur tangan Syria, penggubal undang-undang Amerika Syarikat akan bergabung semula kemudian pada hari Isnin untuk membahaskan berperang. Tetapi White House telah membuat jelas ia masih mempunyai berkata- sama ada jadi untuk mengebom Damsyik, tanpa mengira apa Capitol Hill difikirkan.
Kongres ragu-ragu terhadap kes Obama terhadap Assad, sebagai pegawai pentadbiran juga mengakui bahawa mereka kekurangan bukti tidak dapat dinafikan untuk mengaitkan kerajaan Syria dalam penggunaan maut senjata kimia.
Senator Amerika Syarikat hampir sama rata berpecah kepada mereka dan menentang campur tangan, dengan separuh daripada dewan itu masih belum membuat keputusan. Walaupun House yang lebih rendah dan lebih padat mempunyai ahli parlimen yang paling tegas terhadapnya, atau condong ke arah menolak seruan perang. Gayane Chichakyan mempunyai terbaru dari Washington - anda mungkin mendapati beberapa imej di dalamnya laporan beliau menyedihkan.
Warning: Graphic footage! Congress Charade: Most on Capitol Hill swaying against Syria war cry. With Barack Obama's finger firmly on the Syria intervention trigger, U.S. lawmakers will reconvene later on Monday to debate going to war. But the White House has made clear it still has the say-so on whether to bomb Damascus, regardless of what Capitol Hill thinks.
Congress is sceptical over Obama's case against Assad, as even administration officials admit they lack undeniable proof to implicate the Syrian government in the deadly use of chemical weapons.
U.S. Senators are almost evenly split into those for and against intervention, with half of the chamber still undecided. While the lower and more-populated House has most lawmakers firmly against, or leaning towards turning down the war cry. Gayane Chichakyan has the latest from Washington - you may find some of the images in her report distressing.
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Syria:
Al ‘Qaeda dikaitkan pejuang mengambil bandar
strategik Maaloula . . .
MaliaJYy - Syria: Al ‘Qaeda dikaitkan pejuang mengambil bandar strategik Maaloula. Di Syria, pertempuran berat yang berterusan di dalam dan sekitar bandar strategik Maaloula yang hanya 43 kilometer dari Damsyik, berhampiran dengan sempadan Lubnan.
Pasukan tentera Syria telah mengambil sekumpulan wartawan dengan mereka, yang mendakwa telah mendapat kawasan itu tetapi laporan terbaru mengatakan pejuang pemberontak dikaitkan dengan kawalan Al ‘Qaeda telah kembali.
Maaloula adalah sebuah bandar KUNO purba dan Kristian adalah dalam senarai UNESCO tapak warisan DUNIA.
Kebimbangan yang semakin meningkat untuk ahli-ahli masyarakat Kristian yang yang pada masa lalu telah diserang oleh pejuang-pejuang Islam yang menuduh mereka bersimpati dengan kerajaan Assad.
Syria: al Qaeda linked fighters take strategic town of Maaloula. In Syria, heavy fighting is continuing in and around the strategic town of Maaloula which is only 43 kilometres from Damascus, close to the Lebanese border.
Syrian army troops took a group of journalists with them, claiming to have secured the area but latest reports say rebel fighters linked to al Qaeda have regained control.
Maaloula is an ancient Christian town and is on a UNESCO list of world heritage sites.
Concerns are growing for members of its Christian community which has in the past been attacked by Islamist fighters who accuse them of sympathising with the Assad government.
Rusia
dengan baik menyokong memandangkan tindakan ketenteraan
di Syria akan
mencetuskan keganasan berleluasa - Lavrov
Menteri Luar Rusia Sergey Lavrov dalam pertemuannya dengan Menteri Luar Syria Walid Muallem di Mansion Kementerian Luar Rusia di Moscow (Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem at the Russian Foreign Ministry's Mansion in Moscow (RIA Novosti/Mikhail Voskresenskiy- thnk IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
MaliaJYy - Rusia dgn baik menyokong memandangkan tindakan ketenteraan di Syria akan mencetuskan keganasan berleluasa - Lavrov. Lebih banyak dan lebih banyak negara berkongsi kepercayaan Rusia bahawa tindakan ketenteraan di Syria hanya akan membolehkan keganasan, menurut Menteri Luar Sergey Lavrov. Beliau berkata demikian pada sidang akhbar bersama-sama dengan rakan beliau sejawatannya dari Syria.
Lavrov berkata bahawa Moscow menyokong sepenuhnya panggilan oleh Majlis Keselamatan PBB untuk membawa pakar-pakar kimia kembali ke Syria untuk menyelesaikan misi mereka. Beliau juga menekankan bahawa Damsyik telah memberi reaksi positif kepada Moscow menggesa pembangkang dan kerajaan untuk menyatukan usaha mereka dalam membuang pengganas dari Syria.
Kedua-dua negara pasti bahawa penyelesaian politik masih mungkin, kata Menteri Luar, “walaupun keadaan sangat serius”. Rusia FM menekankan bahawa “terdapat lebih daripada bukti yang cukup untuk menyokong dakwaan bahawa pemberontak berada di belakang serangan kimia.”
“Terdapat keterangan Mother Agnes - Mother Superior di sebuah biara di Syria - menunjukkan bahawa urusan keseluruhan dengan senjata kimia adalah operasi frame-up yang diada-adakan,” kata Menteri Luar Syria Walid Muallem.
FM Muallem mempersoalkan operasi, berkata “kita bertanya tentang motivasi Amerika Syarikat untuk melancarkan serangan terhadap kami” dan menekankan bahawa “usaha-usaha diplomatik belum habis.”
Muallem berkata bahawa campur tangan asing akan berlaku pertama sekali akan memberi kesan kepada penduduk Syria yang aman. “Sebagai sejarah menunjukkan, mangsa pertama dalam mana-mana konflik ketenteraan adalah wanita dan kanak-kanak," kata FM.
Muallem melahirkan kekaguman dengan sebahagian besar orang awam Amerika untuk menyuarakan perbezaan pendapat secara terang-terangan mereka dengan serangan yang dicadangkan. Beliau juga memuji pentadbiran Rusia untuk melakukan segala-galanya dalam kuasanya untuk “Menghalang perbuatan pencerobohan.”
Beliau menambah bahawa pihak Syria “memegang memandang tinggi kedudukan yang tidak berbelah Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin.”
Russia well-supported in view that military action in Syria
will provoke rampant terrorism - Lavrov
More and more states share Russia's belief that military action in Syria will only enable terrorism, according to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He was speaking at a press conference along with his Syrian counterpart
Lavrov said that Moscow fully supports calls by the UN Security Council to bring chemical experts back to Syria to complete their mission. He also emphasised that Damascus has reacted positively to Moscow’s urging for the opposition and the government to unite their efforts in expelling terrorists from Syria.
Both countries are certain that a political settlement is still possible, said the foreign minister, “although the situation is very serious”. The Russian FM stressed that “there is more than enough evidence to support the claim that the rebels are behind the chemical attack.”
“There is the testimony of Mother Agnes – a Mother Superior at a monastery in Syria - suggesting that the whole affair with the chemical weapons was a staged frame-up operation,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said.
FM Muallem questioned the operation, saying “we ask about the motivation of US to launch a strike against us" and emphasizing that "diplomatic efforts have not been exhausted.”
Muallem said that the impending foreign intervention will first and foremost affect the peaceful Syrian population. “As history shows, the first victims in any military conflict are women and children”, the FM said.
Muallem expressed his admiration with a large portion of the American public for voicing their outright disagreement with the proposed strike. He also praised the Russian administration for doing everything in its power to "prevent an act of aggression."
He added that the Syrian side “holds in high regard the unflinching position of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.”
