Syria’s Deputy PM Denies Call for Ceasefire
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Syrian Deputy Prime Minister denied that he told The Guardian newspaper the Syrian government will call for ceasefire in the country during the upcoming Geneva 2 conference.
Jamil , who is also leader of Internal Opposition party, told the Daily Star on Friday that the report was "inaccurate" and that he was speaking in a personal capacity and on behalf of his party, and his comments should not have been presented as speaking on behalf of the government.
"I was speaking in a political and partisan capacity," he told the Lebanese daily via telephone from Damascus.
He said while he believed that "violence in general should stop,” he did not specifically call for a ceasefire at anticipated Geneva 2 talks.
"I was talking about stopping the violence in general. The Guardian statement should be completely disregarded."
On Jamil's reported comments that the war was at a stalemate and that "neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," Jamil clarified that while he believed it was "impossible" for either side to win militarily, he put this down to foreign intervention.
"There should be an end to foreign intervention to stop the violence. As long as there are weapons flowing in to Syria, there is no hope of a cease-fire," he stated.
Referring to the Western-backed opposition, Jamil said that "another part of the opposition that believed the West when they said that they could quickly achieve regime change."
"Now the West understands that intervention will not lead to a solution."
The Guardian newspaper Friday released a transcript of the interview in response to Jamil's denial.
