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April 29, 2013 (TSR) – Syria’s Prime Minister, Dr. Wael al-Halqi survived an assassination attempted early Monday when bombs targeting his convoy detonated as his vehicle was passing through Mazzeh district near Ibn Rushed park in Damascus.
The terrorist explosion caused casualties and material damage, including killing the Prime Minister’s three bodyguards and the driver of the vehicle who were killed in the blasts.
An unnamed official source told the state news agency, SANA said that the Premier is safe and survived the explosion.
Unscathed, the Syrian premier attended the Economic Committee, whose agenda is to tackle economic policies and setting plans and programs, and to consolidate capabilities of the national economy in the face of all internal and external challenges.
“These terrorist bombings are evidence of bankruptcy and frustration of the armed terrorist groups and the powers backing them due to the victories of the Syrian Arab Army, who is hunting their remnants and working on restoring security and stability to the homeland,” Prime Minister Dr. al-Halqi said during presiding a meeting of the Economic Committee at Cabinet HQ.
He continued, ” Another reason that accelerates victory is the Syrian people’s persistence to implement the political program launched by President Bashar al-Assad for solving the crisis, being the only secure way out of the crisis in order to start reconstruction and continue in the comprehensive development process.”
On the national front, the Prime Minister also lauded the role of the Economic Committee and said that meeting reviewed many issues including the issue of re-licensing medicine industry in safe areas.
“One of the important issues that were tackled is allowing re-licensing medicine industry factories in safe areas according to Ministry of Health specifications,” Premier al-Halqi told journalists.
Not so lucky: Deputy Director of Sewage Department Injured in Explosive Device Blast, Citizens Wounded by Mortar Shells in Damascus
In the framework of targeting Syrian national intellectuals and cadres, terrorists detonated an explosive device attached to the car of the Deputy Director of Sewage Department in Damascus Countryside, Engineer Mohammad Tamouh, near Qassiyoun Club in Barzeh area in Damascus.
A Police Command source told SANA reporter that the explosion caused injury to Eng. Tamouh and material damage to his car.
Also a number of citizens were wounded of mortar shells fired by terrorists on the firefighter’s center in Damascus and Bus Station in al-Abassein in Damascus.
SANA reported that two mortar shells fell on the Bus Station in al-Abbasein, causing the injury of a citizen, in addition to material damages in a number of cars.
The unnamed official source from the Syrian Police Command added that other two citizens were wounded due to a terrorist mortar shell fell on the area surrounding the fire fighter’s center.
Reasons: “Masters” Desperate and not going anywhere with their Syria plans
Few days running up to the ambush, the Premier was following up on the implementation of the political program to resolve the crisis, with members of al-Wa’ad Movement, which is still to be licensed.
All Syrian political parties and forces with Dr. Wael al-Halqi reviewed the procedures and meetings held by the Ministerial Committee and were successfully reaching consensus in crystallizing common denominators to make the national dialogue a success.
After reaching positive results with various spectrum of the Syrian society, he then announced on Thursday that the Syrian people want and believe that inclusive national dialogue process is the only way out of the crisis.
The Syrian government has also successfully consolidated and united their people by activating the “Parties Law”, a national project, to boost political awareness and thereby building a national and popular basis to contribute to social development.
Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar while meeting members of Syrian National Youth Party’s politburo to communicate with the licensed parties and review their activities, said on Wednesday that the parties licensed by the Parties Law are licensed national parties working under the umbrella of the homeland.
The Syrian Parties’ Affairs Committee is following up on their activities.
Information Minister, Omran al-Zoubi affirms that the assassination bid that targeted Prime Minister, Dr. Wael al-Halqi, head of the ministerial committee tasked with implementing the political program for solving the crisis in Syria, is a clear expression of certain sides’ rejection of the political solution.
In an interview with Russia Today channel, al-Zoubi affirmed that the Syria state is present throughout Syria from Daraa in the south to the Syrian-Turkish border in the north and not necessarily in the form of military forces, a mayor or a local council, and is running affairs in various ways. He added that even in the areas where the armed terrorist groups operate, the state is performing its duties and citizens are receiving wages and all forms of food supplies and other services.
The official statements made on Monday that the assassination attempt reflects the disappointment of some who reject political solution due to the progress made by the ministry in its deliberations with the political and social forces inside and outside Syria for organizing the Syrian national dialogue conference.
A Stark Contrast: Syrian Opposition has Zero Political Power
Syria’s Information Minister, Omran al-ZoubiThe Minister said in the Russia Today interview, that the Syrian opposition has no political power as it is disunited and lacking in political projects, plans and programs needed by the citizens.
He stressed that the concept of the armed opposition “does not exist”, and that saying there is an opposition and there are armed terrorist groups, which are two different things.
Al-Zoubi clarified that the opposition is a peaceful and political concept, whereas the armed terrorist groups are a security and military concept, referring to the acts of aggression committed by the terrorist groups in Syria against military posts and residential areas.
Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar pointed out to the security and judicial guarantees given to ensure the return of the opposition forces abroad if they wish to take part in dialogue and get involved in the political process, including the coordination committees and the gunmen who surrender their arms.
Prime Minister Al-Halqi underlined the role of nascent national parties and movements in enriching political life and democracy, interacting with citizens, supporting the reform process, and confronting the conspiracy targeting Syria.
Members of the movement, who are based in Syria and actually participating citizens, affirmed their support for the Assad political program to resolve the crisis and presented their viewpoints for the upcoming dialogue conference.
All groups with the government stressed the necessity that the new Syria should remain a civil state in which all Syrians are equal.
“Illegal Oil” is being sold by the Opposition, EU interfering
The Syrian government through the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry on Tuesday rejected the EU decision to allow importing Syrian oil and its derivatives, and also via investing in Syrian oil industry through exclusive transactions with the so-called ‘opposition coalition’.
The Ministry slammed the EU which is involved in the continued political and economic campaign targeting the national economy and the daily life of the Syrian citizens, by violating the principle of non-interference in the countries’ affairs by international law.
In two identical letters addressed to the UN Security Council President and the UN Secretary General, the Ministry dismissed as ‘an unprecedented step” the EU adoption of a decision on April 22 allowing member countries to conduct transactions in oil import, oil and gas industry equipment and technology export and investment in oil industry in Syria exclusively with the so-called ‘the opposition coalition’ under the pretext of “helping the civilian population and the opposition”.
The Foreign Ministry lashed out at the EU countries for “having gone even beyond that to allow the possibility of investing these resources in favor of one group that claims to be an opposition and represent the Syrian people while it actually represents no one by its masters and their interests that are connected to foreign sides.”
Reminiscent of what they have done to Libya under Muammar Gaddafi, the Ministry said the EU did not feel content with the package of unilateral economic sanctions it earlier imposed on Syria as it has now resorted to a new step that “contradicts in its international legal framework with the principle of non-interference approved by the UN Charter in article 2 and the principles of sovereignty and the peoples’ right to choose their political and economic systems without foreign interference.”
The letters also specified that the decision also goes against the UN General Assembly declaration in 1962 on “Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources” which stresses the full right of every country to its natural resources and the respect of the economic respect of countries.
The Ministry also said that the EU decision is also incompatible with the General Assembly declaration in 1981 on the Inadmissibility of Intervention and Interference in the Internal Affairs of States which provides for the inadmissibility of any direct or indict engagement in supporting insurgency activities inside other states under whatever pretext or taking measures that target the unity of other states or undermine and sabotage the regime in them.
The letter further notes that the EU decision also violates the General Assembly declaration in 1970 on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States.
The Ministry reiterated that the sanctions which the EU imposed on Syria since the beginning of the crisis are “illegal” and “illegitimate” resulted in nothing but increasing the suffering of the Syrian people who are already subject to the practices of the armed terrorist groups particularly in terms of vandalizing the main infrastructures and destroying the pillars of the national economy, of which the oil sector is an essential one.
“Neither the EU nor any other party has the right to take any measures that would affect the states’ sovereign rights over their national resources,” said the letters.
The letters reiterated that the EU decision is “illegal” and “amounts to an act of aggression” according to the Definition of Aggression adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 3314 for 1974.
They added that the decision also constitutes “a participation in stealing resources that belong to the Syrian people, the only ones with authority over these resources represented by their standing legitimate government. ”
“Accordingly,” the letters added, ” Syria demands that the Security Council take necessary measures to prevent the implementation of this illegitimate decision that contradicts with the rules of international law and the UN Charter.”
The Ministry reiterated that the EU decision also violates the countries’ commitments to refrain from supporting terrorism as it aims to provide support for the armed terrorist groups that are linked to Jabhat al-Nusra, which is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
It affirmed that “Syria will practice its natural right to take the necessary measures to maintain its sovereignty over its natural resources in the face of the attempts of piracy and looting.”
The Syrian Legal Counterpunch
As a sovereign and legal response, the Minister of Justice, Najm al-Ahamd, announced on Sunday that the government is working on preparing special laws related to the crimes of stealing and selling the Syrian oil, mutilation, joining terrorist groups and recruiting children in terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra.
During a meeting of the People’s Assembly’s Freedoms and Human Rights Committee, which discussed issues of missing and kidnapped people and mechanisms of combating terrorism and administrative corruption among others, al-Ahamd noted that the Legislative Decree No. 20 for 2013 which is related to crimes of abduction has left a positive impact on citizens and restored hope to many in the return of their relatives kidnapped by the terrorist groups.
The Justice Minister also pointed out that the only reason behind the recently taken decision to prevent some citizens from travelling outside the country has to do with following up on the procedures of some lawsuits and nothing else.
He announced that the Justice Ministry has issued a circular on annulling appeals made by the General Prosecution Office after the issuing of a decision to release detainees from the terrorism crimes court.
The Minister said the corruption at the Ministry of Justice is an administrative one and not judicial, stressing that a radical and real solution to the phenomenon of corruption should start with automating both administrative and judicial work, which is what the Ministry will embark on soon in several provinces.
He called for establishing a new TV channel that is specialized in the parliamentary and legal fields to follow up the People’s Assembly sessions and the meetings of the committees specialized in studying some laws.
Minister al-Ahmad also called for setting up rules for the work of the national reconciliation committees, stressing that the judiciary will take deterrent measures against people who get involved in blackmailing citizens.
Syrians confirm that “Chemical Weapons” Fearmongering by USA and Israel is a propaganda
When asked about the Israeli newspapers’ claims that the Syrian government have used chemical weapons during battles with the “armed opposition”, al-Zoubi told Russia Today the Israeli newspapers are not reliable references of credibility.
He stressed that the Syrian government and the armed forces did not and will not use any chemical weapons, if it has any, which the government has been consistently saying, which this writer has reported.
He reiterated that Syria is one of the few countries in the region which do not posses weapons of mass destruction or nuclear or chemical weapons.
The Information Minister reaffirmed that it was the armed terrorist groups which used chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal area in Aleppo.
He also noted that Syria has cooperated with the UN with regard to sending experts to investigate the incident, but the UN and its Secretary General started talking about the need to conduct a probe and search in other areas in Syria in which they claimed that the Syrian forces used chemical weapons despite the fact that no complaints were made before.
He added that the UN wants to have an expert mission in the style of those which led to the destruction of Iraq, and now they want the armed terrorist groups to get away with their crime by neglecting the issue.
UN Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi needs to be Neutral if he wants to be successful and truly calls himself “Mediator”
The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said on Wednesday that the briefing presented by UN Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi to the UN Security Council on April 14th was marked by interfering in Syria’s internal affairs and by being removed from the neutrality he should adhere to as an international mediator.
The official statement said that Brahimi must adhere to the UN Charter and international law, and realize that the Syrian people alone can decide their future and choose their representatives without interference by any side.
The Syrian government emphasized that his mission requires him to be neutral as a UN mediator and they stressed that Brahimi shouldn’t take sides, especially if the side he takes is composed – as everyone now knows – of militant groups belonging to Jabhet al-Nusra, which is affiliated with Al Qaeda and those practicing terrorism against the Syria people.
The Ministry also said that if Brahimi wants his mission to succeed, he is expected to begin work with sides involved in order to halt violence and terrorism and stop it at the source, in addition to exposing the role played by some European countries – particularly France and Britain – alongside Turkey and Arab countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia who fund, arm and train Jabhet al-Nusra terrorists and groups affiliated with them and send them to Syria.
The Ministry also said that Syria cooperated with Brahimi and will continue to do so in the context of him being a UN envoy only, since the Arab League is the side that is conspiring against Syria.
According to the government, the League’s role was over since it terminated the mission of the team led by al-Dabi on February 12th, 2012.
The statement said that Arab League is constantly ignoring the political program for resolving the crisis proposed by Syria on January 6th, 2013.
The Ministry reiterated that there is a clear and unjustified bias, as there is no other political program by any side in the Syrian opposition inside the country and abroad which bases itself on national dialogue among Syrians and led by Syria.
NOTE: Homs Tartarous is Normal
An official source dismissed media reports claiming that Homs-Tartous highway got blocked by terrorists as completely untrue.
The source affirmed in a statement to SANA that the traffic movement on Homs-Tartous highway is normal.
It pointed out that the claims of the channels which are involved in the bloodshed in Syria are mere fabrications and aim to raise the morale of the terrorist groups that are receiving severe blows at the hands of the armed forces.
