- Title: Syria says U.S.-led coalition wants IS fighters to leave Iraq for Syria
- Date: 28th October 2016
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) (R-L) SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WALID AL-MUALLEM, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV AND IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE CLOSE OF IRANIAN FLAG LAVROV SEATED BETWEEN MUALLEM AND ZARIF AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "You know that yesterday, addressing the Valdai discussion group, President (Vladimir) Putin suggested that we should already now start thinking about some sort of a Marshall plan to restore Syria." REPORTER LOOKING AT LAPTOP MONITOR (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We have stated that the responsibility for the deterioration of the social and economic position of the Syrian people lies not only with the terrorists but also with those countries that use unlawful unilateral sanctions against Syria, which hit ordinary people the hardest in this country." REPORTERS WITH LAPTOP (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We are unanimous in saying that any attempts to force the use of outside recommendations and using double standards are absolutely inadmissible. And that all issues must be settled on the grounds of mutual respect and equal footing through negotiations. We all share the understanding that there is no alternative to resolving the Syrian conflict other than through diplomatic and political means." RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, MARIA ZAKHAROVA, AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "At the same time, taking into account humanitarian aspects, Russian and Syria have suspended military action against terrorists. It has already been ten days that there are no sorties by the Russian air force and the Syrian military air force. Our aircraft do not approach the frontline around Aleppo within a 10 kilometre radius." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "Right now an episode that took place on the 27th of October in Idlib is being unfolded, where a school came under attack. Allegations are firstly directed against Syria and Russian, we are being blamed, we are accused of conducting air strikes against the school, in response to these allegations the Defence Ministry of Russia disseminated information that you can familiarise yourself with it, information containing facts that overturn these allegations and show the fabrication of this information attack." REPORTER ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, WALID AL-MUALLEM, SAYING (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "We have suffered from the actions of the international coalition under U.S. guidance, this coalition never fought the Islamic State, on the contrary it was destroying the infrastructure of the Syrian economy, it has recently a great number of bridges on the Euphrates river. It is them who do not want to destroy ISIS they want to oust ISIS from Mosul to Raqqa." ZARIF AND LAVROV REPORTERS ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, SAYING (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "There are a number of countries that believe that they can use terrorism for political purposes. This is why one day Jabhat al-Nusra has that name, tomorrow it is called Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the following day a new group splits away and emerges with a different name. For this reason, if we look at the Syria of today, you will see more than a thousand groups, from this direction and that direction, have raised their heads. This is an illustration of this reality, that supporters of these groups still believe that terrorists can be used to pursue their political goals." CLOSE OF FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Farsi) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, SAYING (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "One point is the inadmissibility of using terrorists for political purposes. The other is impossibility of using terrorists for achieving political goals. Today we have reached this reality in the world that terrorists are not a good method for reaching political goals. Instead of every day renaming terrorist groups with new titles in a bid to allow for their use as instruments for their political goals for a few more days, it is better to accept this reality that using terrorists is not a good method for reaching political goals." FOREIGN MINISTERS STANDING AT THE END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 12th November 2016 13:02
- Keywords: Russia Syria Iran Lavrov Zarif Muallem
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00155X52DJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday (October 28) that a Marshall plan was needed for Syria, similar to a Western agreement to help post-war Germany.
Speaking after talks with his Syrian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow, Lavrov said unlawful sanctions against Syria would harm its civilian population and that there was no alternative to a political solution to the country's civil war.
Lavrov also said report of Russian strikes on a school in Syria's Idlib was disinformation. He added Russia's air force had not carried out strikes in Syria's Aleppo for the last ten days.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said a U.S.-led coalition was encouraging Islamic State fighters to move from Iraq to Syria.
Muallem said the coalition wanted the fighters to move from Iraq's Mosul to Syria's Raqqa, the de facto capital of the radical Sunni group in Syria.
"We have suffered from the actions of the international coalition under U.S. guidance, this coalition never fought the Islamic State, on the contrary it was destroying the infrastructure of the Syrian economy, it has recently a great number of bridges on the Euphrates river. It is them who do not want to destroy ISIS they want to oust ISIS from Mosul to Raqqa," said Muallem, during a joint news conference with Lavrov and Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Zarif said the region faced a problem with "a number of countries that believe that they can use terrorism for political purposes." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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