Syria’s deputy FM raps western states for turning Security Council to plaything

Bashar al-Jaafari said in a statement during a Security Council session on the situation in Syria via a video link that some Western states have sought to repeat in Syria their catastrophic scenarios, which had been applied in other countries under fake titles and terms.

“Syria has long lived with the failure of the Security Council to deal with issues that pose threat to ... peace and security in our region and the world, on top, those related to the Israeli occupation of Arab lands,” Jaafari said, according to Syria's offifical news agency SANA.

He added that the Western countries that have intensified the crisis in Syria and obstructed settlement efforts still continue to undermine the task of the UN Security Council.

Al-Jaafari: western countries turned security council into a tool to serve their political agendas, inflamed crisis in Syria https://t.co/Ym2xaG8iF9 via @SanaAjel
— SANAEnglishOfficial (@SANAEnOfficial) December 16, 2020

The Syrian diplomat said certain countries have denied for years the existence of cross-border terrorism in Syria, while many others have even denied the presence of the Daesh terrorist group in the Arab country.

They have named foreign terrorists as “moderate armed Syrian opposition,” Jaafari lamented.

He said after ten years of Security Council intervention, the US is currently occupying territories in Syria’s northeastern areas, and is supporting terrorists.

“What have the Western states done to enable the Council assume an active role in the fight against terrorism represented by Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra, and the terrorist entities and groups affiliated to them?” al-Jaafari asked.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in March 2011, millions of people have been displaced and traumatized while hundreds of thousands have been killed. The Syrian government blames Western and regional powers for backing terrorist groups that have been wreaking havoc in the Arab country.

On the other hand, the Western countries have condemned the Syrian government for alleged chemical attacks in the country. Damascus, which surrendered its entire chemical stockpile in 2013, has denied any use of chemical weapons, saying it is not in possession of such weapons and remains committed to cooperating with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

In remarks last week, al-Jaafari, however, regretted that the OPCW has turned into a tool in the hands of the US and its allies.

“Syria condemns the use of chemical warfare and all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) at any time, place and under any circumstances. I reiterate that the OPCW has lost its identity as a technical organization tasked with safeguarding the Chemical Weapons Convention, and has instead turned into a tool in the hands of the US and its allies,” Jaafari said at a United Nations session on the situation in Syria via a video link on December 11.

He emphasized that his country has never used chemical weapons and is closely cooperating with the OPCW to settle all lingering issues surrounding the issue.