International community is called to give Assad a chance

Beirut - Taqrib News Agency (TNA) - Patriarch of the Church of Antioch, Gregory III Laham, said the international community is called to give President Bashar Assad a chance to complete reforms he already set off.

Laham, currently on a pastoral and official tour in Venezuela, said the situation in Syria was critical, and cautioned against Syria's disintegration.

"If Syria was fragmented -God forbids- then this shall follow suit in the entire Arab region," he said.

Pertaining to the "Israeli"-Palestinian conflict, he said there could not be any talk about peace if the Palestinian cause was no solved. He saw that Europe, which founded "Israel", must impose peace on "Israel" itself and recognize the Palestinian state.

Laham, who is also the spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, later attended a banquet hosted by the Egyptian ambassador in his honor. The Patriarch did not fail to sternly deplore the recent massacre against Egyptian Copts.

The Syrian ambassador to Venezuela later hosted a dinner banquet in honor of Laham and the accompanying delegation, in presence of 12 ambassadors from the Arab world and South America as well as a panel of Members of the Venezuelan Parliament of Syrian origin.

In a related context, Syrian Presidential Political and Media Advisor Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban stressed the importance of solidarity among the Islamic countries and unifying forces against the organized plots targeting the Arab and Islamic states.

Dr. Bouthaina was speaking during her meeting with the Foreign Relations Committee at the Indonesian Scholars Council, at which she presented a review of the latest events taking place in Syria and explained the real background and motives behind the ferocious attack aimed to undermine Syria's stability and unity.

The members of the Council, the highest religious authority in Indonesia, expressed appreciation of Syria and its position in the Islamic world, wishing that stability will be restored to Syria.

For his part, Slamet Effendi, Head of the Foreign Relations Committee, stressed the support of the people and Muslim scholars in Indonesia to Syria and its "brotherly people".

Dr. Shaaban also met the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Indonesia with the attendance of the Arab ambassadors and heads of the Arab missions.