Syria rejects foreign ground troops to fight Daesh

[Al Bhatti]

February 9, 2015

Syria rejects foreign ground troops to fight Daesh
‘No coordination yet between Syria and Jordan on Daesh fight’

Syria will not allow foreign ground troops on its territory to fight the Daesh group, Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem said on Monday.

Speaking at a news conference in Damascus, Al Muallem also said Jordan had not responded to a Syrian request to coordinate efforts against Daesh after the group killed a captured Jordanian pilot.

“So far, there is no coordination between Syria and Jordan in the fight against terrorism,” Al Muallem said at the joint news conference with Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei.

“As for press reports about ground troops entering Syria, we say clearly that... we will not permit anyone to violate our national sovereignty by intervening to fight [Daesh],” Muallem said.

“The Syrian Arab army is honourably undertaking this task.”

Damascus regularly accuses Jordan of supporting “terrorism” in Syria because of its backing for the uprising against President Bashar Al Assad.

Last week, it called on Amman to cooperate in its efforts against “terrorism” in the wake of a video showing the murder of a Jordanian pilot captured by Daesh in Syria.

Jordan is a member of the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, and its pilot Muath Al Kaseasbeh was captured in December when his plane went down over Syria.

More than 210,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict since it began in March 2011, and around the half the population has been displaced.

The war has created massive humanitarian needs, but Al Muallem criticised the international community, saying it was failing to do its part.

“International organisations claim a lack of resources because of donor reluctance to increase their donations,” he said.

“The Syrian government contributes more than 70 per cent of the aid” in the country, he said, accusing countries backing the opposition of spending money on weapons rather than aid.

The United States, a regular target of Syrian government ire for its support of the rebels, is the largest donor to many UN agencies working in the country, like the World Food Programme.

Syria’s conflict has continued to rage despite several rounds of international efforts at reconciliation.

UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura is expected to hold talks in Damascus on Tuesday about his plan to “freeze” fighting in northern Aleppo province.

Al Muallem said Damascus would welcome De Mistura, but insisted the government would only countenance a plan to stop the fighting in Aleppo city, not the province as a whole.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/syria-rejects-foreign-ground-troops-to-fight-daesh-1.1454081

 

[Syrian Lion]

of course, we Syrians will not allow any country to invade us under the pretext of fighting terrorism, if they really want to fight terrorism, it is easy, end supporting terrorism in Syria, it is that simple... all this coalition attacks on I$I$ is nothing but a stage act... they are still sponsoring them and empowering them by training them and arming them....
any troops that enters Syria without full coordination with Syrians will be considered an invasion and will be targeted...

 

[kaku1]

February 9, 2015

Syria rejects foreign ground troops to fight Daesh
‘No coordination yet between Syria and Jordan on Daesh fight’

Syria will not allow foreign ground troops on its territory to fight the Daesh group, Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem said on Monday.

Speaking at a news conference in Damascus, Al Muallem also said Jordan had not responded to a Syrian request to coordinate efforts against Daesh after the group killed a captured Jordanian pilot.

“So far, there is no coordination between Syria and Jordan in the fight against terrorism,” Al Muallem said at the joint news conference with Belarus Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei.

“As for press reports about ground troops entering Syria, we say clearly that... we will not permit anyone to violate our national sovereignty by intervening to fight [Daesh],” Muallem said.

“The Syrian Arab army is honourably undertaking this task.”

Damascus regularly accuses Jordan of supporting “terrorism” in Syria because of its backing for the uprising against President Bashar Al Assad.

Last week, it called on Amman to cooperate in its efforts against “terrorism” in the wake of a video showing the murder of a Jordanian pilot captured by Daesh in Syria.

Jordan is a member of the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, and its pilot Muath Al Kaseasbeh was captured in December when his plane went down over Syria.

More than 210,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict since it began in March 2011, and around the half the population has been displaced.

The war has created massive humanitarian needs, but Al Muallem criticised the international community, saying it was failing to do its part.

“International organisations claim a lack of resources because of donor reluctance to increase their donations,” he said.

“The Syrian government contributes more than 70 per cent of the aid” in the country, he said, accusing countries backing the opposition of spending money on weapons rather than aid.

The United States, a regular target of Syrian government ire for its support of the rebels, is the largest donor to many UN agencies working in the country, like the World Food Programme.

Syria’s conflict has continued to rage despite several rounds of international efforts at reconciliation.

UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura is expected to hold talks in Damascus on Tuesday about his plan to “freeze” fighting in northern Aleppo province.

Al Muallem said Damascus would welcome De Mistura, but insisted the government would only countenance a plan to stop the fighting in Aleppo city, not the province as a whole.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/syria-rejects-foreign-ground-troops-to-fight-daesh-1.1454081

What is Daesh?

 

[Syrian Lion]

What is Daesh?

arabic name/acrynom for I$I$ terrorists

 

[kaku1]

arabic name/acrynom for I$I$ terrorists

Ohh. I never read this word in Indian newspapers.

 

[Al Bhatti]

February 10, 2015

Syria ‘informed’ about US-led strikes on Daesh - Al Assad
There is no dialogue, says Al Assad, but there is information passed on by third parties

Damascus receives “information” about air strikes by the US-led coalition against Daesh in Syria, President Bashar Al Assad said in an interview published on Tuesday.

“Sometimes, they convey a message, a general message,” he said in an interview with the BBC in Damascus.

“There is no dialogue. There’s, let’s say, information, but not dialogue.

“There’s no direct cooperation,” he added, saying the messages came to Damascus through third parties.

“More than one party, Iraq and other countries. Sometimes they convey messages, general messages. But there’s nothing tactical,” he said.

Damascus has grudgingly accepted the strikes against Daesh on its territory that began on September 23 last year, but has repeatedly criticised the coalition for failing to coordinate with it.

It says the raids cannot defeat Daesh unless the international community starts cooperating with Syrian troops on the ground.

Al Assad said the US-led strikes had the potential to help his government if they were “more serious.”

“Yes, it will have some benefits, but if it was more serious and more effective and more efficient. It’s not that much.”

Trample over international law

Washington has ruled out cooperating with Al Assad’s government against Daesh, and the Syrian leader said Damascus had no interest in joining the coalition.

“No, definitely we cannot and we don’t have the will and we don’t want, for one simple reason — because we cannot be in an alliance with countries which support terrorism.”

The comment appeared to be a reference to coalition support for other rebels groups fighting to overthrow him, all of which his government derides as “terrorists”.

Al Assad said US officials “easily trample over international law, which is about our sovereignty now, so they don’t talk to us, we don’t talk to them.”

More than 210,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Human rights groups accuse Damascus of indiscriminately killing civilians in air strikes on rebel-held areas, using unguided munitions such as barrel bombs.

But Al Assad denied that the army was using the makeshift bombs — crude barrels packed with explosives and shrapnel that are generally dropped by helicopter.

“I haven’t heard of [the] army using barrels, or maybe cooking pots,” he said, laughing.

“We have bombs, missiles and bullets,” he added, dismissing claims that his forces were using indiscriminate weapons.

“There are no indiscriminate weapons. When you shoot, you aim, and when you shoot, when you aim, you aim at terrorists in order to protect civilians,” he said.

He also denied claims that Syria’s government had used chemical weapons against its own people in August 2013, in an attack outside Damascus that killed up to 1,400 people.

“Who verified who threw that gas on who?” he said.

Asked if his government was responsible, he said “definitely not,” adding that the reported death toll was “exaggerated.”

He also said his forces were “definitely not” using chlorine as a weapon.

Since Syria gave up its chemical arsenal in a Russian- and US-brokered deal after the 2013 attack, there have been persistent reports of the use of chlorine gas.

In many of those instances, residents reported hearing helicopters, suggesting the involvement of government forces.

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