US-led coalition doing everything but fight against terror, says Syrian FM

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem says the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has been doing everything it could since the onset of its airstrikes but combat terrorism and militant outfits wreaking havoc in the Arab country.

Addressing world leaders at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday, Muallem described the military alliance as “illegitimate” and censured the “hegemonic policies” pursued by certain countries against the Damascus government.

The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. 

The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. It has also been largely incapable of achieving its declared goal of destroying Daesh.

'US airlifts 22 Daesh commanders from Dayr al-Zawr’

A military and diplomatic source tells Russia’s Sputnik news agency that the terrorists were taken to “safer regions.”

Muallem noted that thousands of displaced Syrians were returning home after government forces reclaimed previously militant-held territories.

“The Damascus government will spare no effort to provide basic commodities to refugees and ensure that their basic needs are met. Present conditions are conducive to voluntary repatriation of refugees,” the top Syrian diplomat pointed out.

PressTV-Syria urges displaced citizens to return home

The Syrian government calls on its citizens who have fled the conflicts in the country to return to the liberated areas.

He added that the Syrian government supported a political solution to the ongoing foreign-sponsored conflict, emphasizing that Damascus was opposed to any initiative which paves the way for foreign inference in Syria’s internal affairs.

“Syria welcomes reconstruction aid from counties not involved in the conflict. Those states which offer conditional aid are neither invited nor willing to assist,” Muallem said.

The Syrian minister went on to say that his country did not a pursue a chemical weapons program, as all its chemical weapon stockpiles had been destroyed under the supervision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) .

He also said the so-called White Helmets aid group was indeed affiliated to the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, and was set up by Britain's secret intelligence service under a humanitarian guise.

PressTV-West scrambles to evacuate White Helmets from Syria

Western countries reportedly scramble to evacuate the White Helmets from Syria, which has been accused of cooperating with Takfiri terrorists and staging gas attacks.

Muallem then leveled strong criticism at neighboring Turkey, stating that it had served as a “terror hub and corridor” ever since the Syrian crisis began in March 2011. 

He also called on France, the US and Turkey to immediately withdraw their troops from the Syrian soil.

“Any foreign military presence in Syria without the government’s consent amounts to flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter,” Muallem said.

PressTV-Israel pushing US to recognize annexation of Syria’s Golan

The Israeli intelligence chief says talks are underway with the US the recognition of occupied side of Syria’s Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

He also condemned Israel’s continued occupation of the strategic Golan Heights, and the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Iran.

“The Syrian government will never compromise on the country’s national interests,” Muallem concluded.

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