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Russian lawmaker: Syria not to cope with IS without international anti-terrorist coalition

Major powers have to sit down at the negotiating table to draw up a plan of combating Islamic State with both the Syrian opposition and representatives of the Syrian government, he says
Allegedly Islamic State militants advance in southern Damascus ased News Network, via AP
Allegedly Islamic State militants advance in southern Damascus
© ased News Network, via AP

MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/. Western counties will not be able to refuse to take part in the battle against the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria because the Syrian people will not be able to solve the problem of terrorism on their own, First Deputy Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Russia’s Federation Council Vladimir Dzhabarov told TASS on Tuesday, commenting on the statement of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius who said that Syrians had to defeat terrorists by their own forces.

According to Dzhabarov, it will be impossible for them to keep aloof, large quantities of weapons and money flows in Syria. "Syrians won’t be able just to sit down and deal with the Islamic State issue, assistance is needed," Dzhabarov said. "There are too many interested parties there, so it will be impossible to counter the Islamic State threat without an international anti-terrorist coalition," he said. Major powers have to sit down at the negotiating table to draw up a plan of combating Islamic State with both the Syrian opposition and representatives of the Syrian government, Dzhabarov noted. He added that it was only possible to counter terrorists "with the mandate from the United Nations Security Council, all other methods of struggle are not quite correct from the point of view of the world order."

The senator also voiced regret over US efforts aimed at hindering flights of Russian aircraft carrying humanitarian aid for Syria over the Balkan countries. The US Embassy in Athens earlier asked Greece to close its airspace to Russia’s Syria-bound planes.

The Russian lawmaker also called ungrounded the suspicions of Western countries that Russia could supply military cargo to Syria under the guise of humanitarian aid. "These are humanitarian cargos," Dzhabarov said, adding that "carrying weapons by aircraft was unprofitable."

On Tuesday, Laurent Fabius told the La Parisien newspaper that the Syrians had to defeat the Islamic State group themselves. According to the minister, for that end, it is necessary to ensure the formation of the transitional government in Syria, which would consist of representatives of the current regime and the opposition.