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News > World

Syria to Continue Its Fight to End Terrorism: Assad

  • President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

    President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. | Photo: Reuters

Published 20 August 2017
Opinion

The Syrian president denounced the hidden agenda of the United States and criticized Turkish President Erdogan for the support they give to anti-government forces in Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said Syria will continue its operations to end terrorism throughout its territory as it makes advances toward final victory in the six-year-old civil war in the country.

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In a televised address, Assad highlighted the alliances with countries such as Iran, Russia and Hezbollah in Lebanon to combat terrorism in Syria, adding that his country had foiled Western designs to topple him.

He assured, "Their direct support — politically, economically and militarily — has made possible bigger advances on the battlefield and reduced the losses and burdens of war," stressing, "These friends are our true allies."

He denounced the hidden agenda of the United States and criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in his view is a "political beggar," for the support they give to the "terrorists" in Syria.

Assad vowed to pursue an offensive in Syria's vast deserts, where his troops hope to attack Islamic State's last major Syrian stronghold, the Deir al-Zor region that extends to the Iraqi border. The eastward thrust, unthinkable two years ago when Assad seemed in danger, has underlined his ever more confident position and the dilemma facing Western leaders who still want him ousted.

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He said his country welcomed Russian-brokered local cease-fire deals that Moscow is seeking to extend elsewhere in Syria as these would end bloodshed and bring an end to the insurgency and continue the pardoning of rebels who agree to lay down arms.

"The idea of these de-escalation zones is to stop the bloodletting ... and ... the armed groups handing over their weapons and the return to normalcy," Assad said. "We have an interest in the success of this initiative."

Russia has since last month deployed military police beside army checkpoints in southwest Syria and in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus to help ensure calm in deals it has worked out with anti-government groups.

However, Assad condemned U.S.-inspired "safe zones" which U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year said he hoped to achieve with Russia, saying such a plan would only "give cover to terrorists."

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