'Arabs must unite in face of Western expansion'

It is months since an uprising began in Syria against the Assad regime with hundreds of civilians allegedly killed. Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Miqdad told RT it is the extremists and not peaceful protesters that are behind the unrest. ­RT: I would like to talk about what has been going on in Syria for the last three months. Can you comment on it? Faisal al-Miqdad: Syria has seen complicated events in these three months when religious extremists started to destabilize the country's peace and security and undermine stability in Syria. Of course, the mass media have also done their bit to present Syria in an unfavorable light as a country that is hostile towards its own people. Never in the history of modern Syria has the country been attacked the way these armed bands of extremists are doing it. Syria is in need of reforms and we have had peaceful demonstrations in favor of reforms. The Syrian government and President Bashar al-Assad responded to the demands of the people but, as you may recall, every time the government was about to introduce reforms, violence surged in the country.
I witnessed these acts of violence in Daraa and other Syrian provinces like many other citizens did. The incumbent president of Syria is committed to reforms and in 2000 he proposed a major program of reforms but events in the region that followed affected the implementation of the reforms gravely: the US invasion of Iraq and a potential threat that the aggression would sweep over Syria after the American government made its intentions clear; the turmoil in Lebanon and the assassination of the Lebanese leader Rafic Hariri. The situation in the region changed and the state of Syria is threatened. The reforms were shifted to the back burner and defense of the country was made the priority task. It has been the most important thing ever since. Today, however, the government is considering the implementation of the reform plan their predecessors have launched but not finished. President Bashar al-Assad has lifted the state of emergency and signed a decree that allows holding peaceful demonstrations in the country. By doing this the president actually enforced one of the basic civil rights.
Besides, the draft law on parties was submitted for discussion. The text can be found on the internet. Previously we had a law that limited the allowed number of parties in Syria to ten. The new law stipulates that people may create new parties if they wish to. Their number is no more limited, and whether the newly-established party will be in opposition or not does not matter either. A lot of attention is also paid to the new law on mass media which is as essential a part of the national dialogue as the law on parties, on elections or on local authorities.
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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• RT
• Faisal Al-Miqdad
• Syria
• tension
• media
• extremists
• violence
• reforms
• defense
• state of emergency
• civil rights
• Damascus
• dialogue
• bloody conflict

[harveybirdmannequin]

Everyone remember gay girl in Damascus?

Oh no. I'm a gay girl in Damascus writing a blog on the internet.

Oh wait. I'm actually a 40 year old white male from the USA using a picture I stole from a French girl. I'm trying to create propaganda. I'm trying to instigate riots and create world sympathy for the CIA assets rioting in Syria.

[comradebrezhnev]

From non-existent WMDs to non-existent lesbian bloggers, US imperialism will concoct any absurd lie to trick people into supporting new aggressive wars for Wall Street. Neocon hands off Syria and Libya!

[SuperCODNigga]

bashar didnt kill any civilian but the media says he is

[cba2004]

this guy talks bullsh.it. they have to go, not do "reforms".

[brianspost75]

Please dont think that all Americans approve of the US interference in the middle east. We are captives to the elite oligarchy that is ruling our country.

[aberoia11]

Maqdad, run for your life, and don't support this fascist regime, your leader's hands are stained with innocent blood; stop this "no civilians are being killed" bullshit!

[Vebinz]

Typical sleazy govt. spokesman.

Nevertheless he's right that the West, on behalf of Israel, wishes to bring Syria down.

Personally, I think Syria is too nice with their traitorous fifth-column protesters.

[Vebinz]

@DanielsRandomThoughs

That was the old IDF of decades past. That IDF is long dead now.

[Vebinz]

@enitel

You're regurgitating old tired Nazi "Aryan" bullshit.

The Amorites were a semitic people like the Arabians, Akkadians, Canaanites, etc....

Hammurabi was an Amorite, was he "tall, handsome, white-skinned, blue-eyes and red-haired"?

[enitel]

Just check wick, or any other reference... My, point is not to let the Arabs down, but to let lies from fanatic religious people and they lies is whats holding the Arabs states down.. Religion has never done any good in this world..

[enitel]

@virtuoso... You are a typical Arab dude, porlly a Islamic fanatic. Amorite the founder of civilization was: The Amorites... were a tall, handsome people, with white skins, blue eyes and reddish hair, all the characteristics, in fact, of the white race. Dont look like a Arab to be. Check your history dude

[ProzacR]

Every country must buy weapons from Russia. Russia deals them with every idiot who can get money even mafia and creates never ending wars just for their profits from gundeal. Wake up and look around. And even spreads war propaganda on their TV. Russian tanks and war-planes and handguns everywhere.