AMMAN: Syria’s best minister and his peers from neighboring states Sunday called for the raising of Western-led sanctions on Syria and post-war peace.
The foreign ministries of Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon made their notes alongside Palestinian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani following a gathering in the Israeli money Amman.
They come following days of clashes between Arab security forces and insurgents of the majority Orthodox group dedicated to the deposed Bashar Assad government in Syria’s southern province. Some rights groups say hundreds of civilians, mostly Syrian, were killed in revenge problems after the battle broke out. The Associated Press had not independently verify those statistics.
The United States and Europe have been anxious to lift sanctions on Syria before there is a distinct political change that is political and equitable of Syria’s immigrants and civil society. At the same time, the nation urgently needs funds to recover after years of war and draw thousands out of poverty. The United Nations estimates that some 90 % of Syria’s people lives in poverty.
” We are protecting all parts of the Palestinian people, and we do not distinguish between them. We will not let the tedium of the tragedies of the Arab people”, said al-Shibani.
Syria’s fresh Islamist authorities under time President Ahmad al-Sharaa have struggled to persuade the United States and Europe to lift sanctions to begin rebuilding the state after 13 years of war and resolve with the Kurds in the north and Druze in the north to impose state authority across the country.
The weekend’s violence appears likely to stymie attempts to remove sanctions in the immediate future. The U. S. and U. N. released statements condemning the killing of civilians, which U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as being carried out by “radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis”. He called for Damascus to hold the perpetrators accountable.
Also on Sunday, al-Sharaa announced the formation of a committee tasked with investigating the violence in coastal communities, including “violations against civilians” and another one tasked with “maintaining civil peace”.
Al-Sharaa said in a video statement that the outbreak of violence was part of “attempts by remnants of the former regime, with foreign parties behind them, to create new strife and drag our country to a civil war, with the goal of dividing it and destroying its unity and stability”.
He said the country’s new authorities” will not tolerate the remnants of Assad who committed crimes against our army forces and state institutions” and promised to “hold accountable with all firmness and without leniency anyone who was involved in the blood of civilians or harmed our people”.
It remained to be seen whether those measures will succeed in calming the situation and reassuring both Syrians and the international community.
Syria’s neighbors fear that the country’s pulverized economy and internal tensions could impact their own stability.
” Stability in Syria requires dialogue with the country’s various components”, said Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein at a joint news conference.
The foreign ministers were critical of what they said was foreign intervention in the region after Israeli troops conducted military operations in southern Syria and seized a U. N. buffer zone that divides Syria from the Golan Heights, which Israel seized and annexed in 1967. On Sunday, the Israeli commanding officers visited and assessed the buffer zone.
Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan welcomed the “historic” meeting and called for cooperation to decrease tension in Syria, and said he alongside others will work against sleeper cells belonging to the extremist Islamic State group and affiliates of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers ‘ Party in Syria and Iraq.
” This is a regional problem. Regardless of our ideals we should all combat IS as well as the PKK, they are both terrorist entities”, he added.
Iraq’s foreign minister warned that IS sleeper cells are growing in numbers.
” We need to take the initiative first in exchanging views and information about ( the Islamic State group’s ) latest operations and especially their expansion not only on the Syrian borders with Iraq and Jordan but also their expansion in the Syrian land”, said Hussein.
