‘US had never had ‘Plan A’ for Syria, West a root cause of crisis’ – Syrian UN envoy to RT
Washington never had a so-called ‘Plan A’ to resolve the Syrian crisis, Syrian envoy to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari told RT, adding that the West is one of the root causes of the Syrian war.
In the wake of the worsening security situation in Syria, Washington has blamed Damascus and Russia for jeopardizing efforts to peacefully resolve the ongoing civil war.
However, al-Jaafari told RT that Washington on its part never had a solid plan to settle the war inside Syria.
“The United States had never had a ‘Plan A’ to move to ‘Plan B’, Washington had a‘Plan B’, they never worked out a ‘Plan A’,” the Syrian UN envoy said.
In February this year US Secretary of State John Kerry vowed to bring in a ‘Plan B’ for Syria if peace talks and government transition in the country failed. The same month, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be removed either way. "He will either leave by a political process or he will be removed by force," al-Jubeir said.
By “personalizing conflict in Syria” the US and its allies are simplifying the problem instead of really trying to resolve it al-Jaafari told RT. “We do not need to simplify things. The conflict in Syria has a rather geopolitical dimension. And this is what Moscow got from the beginning, this is what Beijing got from the beginning, this is what Tehran got from the beginning. The issue is much-much bigger.”
Instead the West itself appears to be one of “root causes” of the conflict, according to the official.
“The root cause of this conflict in Syria ravaging the country is due to mainly speaking this imposed terrorist war on the Syrians, governments and people as well. And this imposed terrorist war is backed by the western countries as well as Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia" al-Jaafari said.
He added that the US-led international coalition is not really engaged in battling terrorists like al-Nusra. “The American campaign called the international coalition… never targeted al-Nusra front for instance, never ever.”
Washington and its allies are "using al-Nusra front as a shield to protect what they call the armed moderate groups in Syria." That in return shows that the "American administration is not genuine and not serious about combating al-Nusra front terrorists, which is a terrorist entity according to the [UN] Security Council list." He also slammed Washington’s claims that “to do so is difficult” during the Russian and Syrian airstrikes as “hypocritical.”
This view is shared by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who on Monday told the BBC that the US had failed to deliver on its obligations to ensure that “moderate” Syrian rebels separate from al-Nusra jihadists. The Russian official added that it lets Moscow assume al-Nusra is being reserved by Washington for its ‘Plan B’ in Syria.
During a special UN Security Council meeting on Sunday the US envoy to the body Samantha Power accused Damascus and Moscow of “barbarism” while conducting anti-terrorist strikes in Aleppo. In the interview to RT al-Jaafari rebuffed the accusations as “devoid of all accuracy and credibility.” He noted that the situation inside Aleppo is being complicated through al-Nusra and other “terrorists” who effectively have taken people hostage in the eastern part of the city.
Al-Nusra is "using them as human shields and preventing them from getting out of the eastern part of Aleppo through the four humanitarian corridors opened by both the Russians and Syrian army." The corridors were established by the Russian Reconciliation center in Syria and the government forces on July 28 to allow aid deliveries and exit to those willing to flee Aleppo. Al-Jaafari also told RT that the UN is ignoring reports from own staffers who witnessed hospitals in Aleppo “occupied” by militants.
Al-Jaafari stressed that the Syrian government is ready to cooperate on reach a lasting peace in the country. "We are ready to go for a political settlement. We went to Geneva, we went to Moscow, we went everywhere for a political settlement”, he said. However it should be a “Syrian-Syrian settlement, it should be political, it should be without any foreign interference."
A key point in resolving the crisis is establishing a true and united front against terrorists.
"Enough is enough. We need a genuine so-called international coalition to combat the terrorists with the Syrian government, not on behalf of the Syrian government, not to replace the Syrian government, not to ignore the Syrian government," the official told RT.
He noted that the US has still not apologized for the airstrikes on the positions of Syrian troops near the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor on September 17. According to official numbers 83 soldiers died as result of the bombardment. The US acknowledged the incident and called it “a mistake.” However al-Jaafari says that the incident once again shows “hypocrisy” in Washington, adding that Damascus is still lacking a proper apology. "We have not heard the word,” the official said.
