Syria assues UN 'victory' is imminent against 'terrorists'

Syria's foreign minister has told world leaders that his country is "marching steadily" toward the goal of rooting out terrorism and "victory is now within reach".

Syria assues UN 'victory' is imminent against 'terrorists'

Syria's foreign minister has told world leaders that his country is "marching steadily" toward the goal of rooting out terrorism and "victory is now within reach".

Walid al-Mouallem pointed to "the liberation of Aleppo and Palmyra", the end of the siege of Deir el-Zour by the Islamic State, "and the eradication of terrorism from many parts of Syria" by the Syrian army and its supporters and allies, including Russia and Iran.

Russia's military said about two weeks ago that Syrian troops have liberated about 85% of the war-torn country's territory from militants, a major turnaround two years after Moscow intervened to lend a hand to its embattled long-time ally.

While al-Mouallem was looking towards the end of Syria's more-than-six-year civil war, the leader of hurricane-hammered Dominica made an impassioned plea for help at the General Assembly's annual ministerial meeting for an island country on "the front line of the war on climate change".

"Let these extraordinary events elicit extraordinary efforts to rebuild nations sustainably," Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told the UN five days after Hurricane Maria swept over his Caribbean country with 160 mph winds, killing 15 people, flattening homes and destroying roads.

The General Assembly was scheduled to hear later Saturday from North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, a highly anticipated speech following the escalating rhetoric between US President Donald Trump and his country's leader Kim Jong Un.

In his speech, Mr al-Mouallem heaped praise on the army and the country's allies and looked ahead to victory, though fighting still continues in many areas of the country.

"I am confident that when this unjust war on Syria is over, the Syrian army will go down in history as the army that heroically defeated, along with its supporting forces and its allies, the terrorists that came to Syria from many countries and received large support from the most powerful countries of the world," he said.

While the army and its supporting forces and allies "are making daily achievements, clearing out territories and uprooting terrorists," Mr al-Mouallem said, "the threat of this plague persists".

On the political front, he said local reconciliation agreements have allowed tens of thousands of internally displaced people and refugees to return home.

He said "Syria is determined to scale up reconciliation efforts, whenever possible".

The Syrian minister said Syria is encouraged by talks in Kazakhstan's capital Astana on local ceasefires and "de-escalation zones."

He expressed hope that these talks "will help us reach an actual cessation of hostilities and separate terrorist groups" like IS from groups that have agreed to join the Astana process.

Mr Al-Mouallem reaffirmed the Syrian government's commitment to further progress in Geneva talks, which are aimed at establishing a transitional government, drafting a new constitution and holding elections in Syria.

"This process has yet to bear fruit in the absence of a genuine national opposition that can be a partner in Syria's future," he said, "and as countries with influence over the other party continue to block any meaningful progress."

Talks among Syrian opposition groups are expected to take place in early October in hopes of producing a unified delegation in Geneva.

AP

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