Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – The international community is pledging its support and announcing the next diplomatic action steps since the rebel overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria over the weekend.
France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Noel Barrot has announced that his country will send a special diplomatic envoy to Syria in the coming days, adding that the events in Syria were a “stunning defeat for Russia.”
China is urging all relevant parties to find a political resolution.
“We hope all relevant parties will proceed on the basis of the Syrian people’s fundamental interests and find a political resolution as soon as possible to restore stability in the country, ” Spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry Mao Ning said today.
Japan has said its government hopes the situation would improve following al-Assad’s removal.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, the spokesperson for the Japanese government, said Tokyo is strongly concerned about the events in Syria and expressed hope that the violence will end as soon as possible.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the situation in Syria reflects a new beginning.
“A new era has begun in Syria, now it is time to focus on the way forward,” Fidan remarked today.
Multiple diplomatic sources told AFP on Sunday that the UN Security Council will hold an emergency closed door meeting – called for by Russia – to discuss the situation in Syria.
US, Israel response
On Sunday, Syrian rebels said Syria has been liberated from al-Assad rule. The rebel group has also seized several strategic cities since November 27.
Al Jazeera reported that the atmosphere in Syria is celebratory but also strained.
“From time to time, we hear celebratory gunfire. On the other hand, the situation is celebratory but on the other hand it is tense,” Al Jazeera reported, noting that there is also smoke rising from the site of a nearby Israeli air strike yesterday.
Israel claimed that it struck suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria to prevent falling into the hands of “extremists.”
“The only interest we have is the security of Israel and its citizens. That’s why we attached strategic weapons systems, like, for example, remaining chemical weapons, or long-range missiles and rockets,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, commenting on the strike.
US President Joe Biden has also commented on the situation in a televised address from the White House, saying that al-Assad’s removal was a chance for the Syrian people to “build a better future for their proud country.”
“It’s also a moment of risk and uncertainty. As we all turn to the question of what comes next, the United States will work with our partners and the stakeholders in Syria to help them seize an opportunity to manage the risk,” Biden said in his address.
The US has announced that it carried out dozens of airstrikes on ISIS targets following al-Assad’s collapse.
The country’s central command said on Sunday that it launched strikes on more than 75 targets, including on ISIS leaders and operatives to ensure the armed group does not take advantage of Syria’s unstable situation with the end of al-Assad’s rule.
