Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday that his country has responded to the mission of UN envoy Kofi Annan, stressing that Syria would exert all efforts to make Annan's mission a success to restore security and stability to Syria.
Assad made the remarks in a message sent Thursday to leaders of the five-nation BRICS bloc, in which he expressed hope that Annan would deal inclusively with all the elements of the Syrian crisis, regionally and internationally, state-run SANA news agency reported.
In the letter carried by Syria's state-run SANA news agency, Assad stressed that in order to make Annan's mission successful, there should be concentration on halting all kinds of support to terrorism in Syria, especially by countries whose officials have declared their financing and arming of the armed terrorist groups in Syria, referring to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have explicitly announced their will to arm and support the rebels in Syria.
Earlier in the week, Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League joint envoy to Syria, announced that Syria has accepted his six-point plan on ending violence. The plan includes commitments to end the violence, allow humanitarian assistance and allow protests.
Assad reasserted the need to convince all countries that support the armed groups in Syria to stop immediately, including neighboring countries which are harboring and facilitating the armed groups' attacks in Syria.
The Syrian president also pointed out that in return of his government's commitment to Annan's initiative, there should be guarantees from other parties to halt all terrorist attacks.
Assad also noted that Syria would soon commence a national dialogue involving all spectra of the Syrian people, which are working to restore stability and security to the unrest-battered country. He voiced hope that the BRICS would exert all efforts to make this goal successful, adding that Syria welcomes all efforts by the BRICS in this respect.
He said Syria has informed Annan about its approval of the plan, adding that there should be overall consultations over all details "so that armed groups would not use the climates of the government 's commitments."
In his message, Assad explained the steps taken by the Syrian government to introduce reforms in the country and to restore security and stability.
Assad said that despite of those steps, "misleading media campaign has been stoked, and assassination and terrorism backed by forces that have submitted weapons and funds to extremists... have continued."
The president also expressed his appreciation of the BRICS group's respecting of other countries' sovereignty and independence, adding that those leaders work to lay foundation for a multi-party international action instead of hegemony or interference in other countries' internal affairs.
Leaders of the BRICS group on Thursday expressed rejection of foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs and the necessity of putting an end to the terrorism of the armed groups in Syria, asserting that dialogue is the only solution to the crisis in Syria.
Wrapping up the activities of the BRICS 4th summit in the Indian capital New Delhi, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa underlined that dialogue is the only way to reach a solution to the Syrian crisis and Iran's nuclear issue.
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