DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The West’s sole goal in Syria has been helping out terrorist elements in the Arab country, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad says.
The top diplomat said the recipients of the Western support in Syria are Takfiri terrorist groups as Daesh and al-Nusra Front, which is al-Qaeda’s Syria branch, as well as the White Helmets, a Western-backed so-called aid group, which has been found liable for many false-flag attacks aimed at wrongfully implicating Damascus.
The official, who was speaking to Russia Today Arabic in an exclusive interview on Saturday, questioned the United States’ self-proclaimed intention to provide Syria with “humanitarian aid”.
He said if Washington was honest about the nature of the support, it would directly hand over the supplies to Damascus instead of using the Turkish border or other ports of entry for bringing them in.
“The U.S. attaches no importance to the Syrians’ lives, and the reason for this is its refusal to annul its sanctions against the government in Damascus. Washington’s goal is to deny Syrians [even] a morsel of bread,” Mekdad said.
He repeated Damascus’ request for the American forces’ immediate withdrawal from the country.
The comments came as the United Nations Security Council is bracing for a showdown between Russia and Western countries over the cross-border mechanism (CBM) of humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria.
The 15-member council approved four border crossings when deliveries began in 2014, three years after foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria.
In January 2020, Russia used its veto power to limit aid deliveries to two border crossings given Syrian army gains against Takfiri terrorists, and in July 2020, to only one.
Today, aid is delivered through the Bab al-Hawa crossing from Turkey to Syria’s militant-held northwest, and its mandate expires on July 10.
Norway and Ireland have recently circulated a draft resolution to keep the Bab al-Hawa crossing open and restore aid deliveries through the al-Yaroubiya crossing point from Iraq.
The one-page motion, cited by The Associated Press, would also end the current six-month mandate for the crossings and restore a one-year mandate.