Russia: U.S. Must End Occupation of Syria

Date: 19 February 2022 - 22:07

News ID: ۱۰۰۱۵۳

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) –
Russian President’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa has urges the United States to end its illegitimate occupation of parts of Syria, saying the American forces’ presence in the Arab country poses a threat to regional stability.
Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also Russia’s deputy foreign minister, made the remarks in an interview on Saturday, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.
The U.S. presence in Syria “is a matter of big concern as it threatens stability in the region,” the Russian official said.
It is only through such withdrawal that Syria would be able to properly address the problems it faces in terms of stability, return of the displaced people, and reconstruction, Bogdanov emphasized.
The U.S. occupation impedes the efforts that are aimed at resolving Syria’s woes, he added, calling on Washington to show respect for the Arab country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The U.S. and its allies invaded Syria in 2014 under the pretext of fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group. The terrorist outfit had emerged as Washington was running out of excuses to extend its regional meddling or enlarge it in scale. The U.S. military interference, however, was surprisingly slow in confronting the terrorists, despite the sheer size of the coalition that had enlisted scores of Washington-allied countries.
Numerous reports and regional officials would, meanwhile, point to the U.S.’ role in transferring Daesh elements throughout the region and even airlifting supplies to the terror outfit.
In 2017 and at the height of the coalition’s military campaign in Syria, Russia drew a parallel between the destruction that was being caused by the U.S.-led forces and the wholesale bombing campaign against the German city of Dresden during the World War II.
Last month, the Syrian Military Prosecution announced that it has launched an investigation into violations committed by the United States military forces in the country, particularly the occupation troops’ training of the Daesh terrorists and collaboration with them to carry out various acts of terror.
“The Military Prosecution has come up with sufficient and incontrovertible evidence that American forces assert fairly direct control over Daesh members as well as their terrorist activities across Syria, using its illegal base in al-Tanf [region in southern Syria],” Ahmad Touzan, a spokesman for the prosecution, said at a press conference in the capital Damascus.
He noted, “We have convincing proof that many Daesh terrorists are currently being trained at that base. The armed terrorists visit the base aboard their vehicles without any restraint.”