Syria Slams Anti-terror Coalition

Syria has accused the West of lacking the "true will" necessary to confront terrorism in the region, criticizing the US-led coalition that has vowed to crush the Islamic State group, according to the state news agency SANA.

"The US and Western move to form an alliance outside the framework of the UN Security Council to fight the Islamic State does not reflect a true will to confront terrorism," Syria's parliament speaker, Jihad al-Laham, said on Sunday in a speech during a People's Assembly session.

The same countries that are joining the international coalition are the ones that participated in arming and financing the militant groups in Syria, he added, referring to the Arab Gulf states, like Saudi Arabia, that have openly expressed their support for the armed rebellion in Syria and have recently joined the international effort to fight against the Islamic State group.

Laham also denounced these powers for rejecting Damascus' offer of joint cooperation on targeting Islamic State positions with airstrikes on Syrian soil.

"Are there any sane people who could think about fighting terrorism without the cooperation of the countries that are exposed to it?" he said.

Xinhua

(China Daily 09/23/2014 page12)