New York, SANA- Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Mr. Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, has held a meeting with Ambassador Barbara Woodward, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and the Security Council, at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
During the meeting, Minister al-Shaibani emphasized the importance of the international community’s support for the Syrian government’s efforts to enhance the country’s stability after years of conflict.
He commended the recent moves aimed at lifting the sanctions imposed on Syria, noting that these sanctions represent a significant obstacle to the country’s recovery at both the economic and humanitarian levels.
Minister al-Shaibani expressed the Syrian government’s gratitude to the British side for the positive stances it has shown recently regarding the lifting of sanctions, calling for their complete and comprehensive removal, as this step would facilitate the reconstruction process in Syria and achieve sustainable stability.
Mr. al-Shaibani also stressed the necessity of transitional justice that is fair to the victims, while emphasizing the Syrian government’s role in building national mechanisms to guarantee the rights of Syrian citizens and advance the national reconciliation process.
He clarified that transitional justice must be part of the comprehensive political solution that ensures the voluntary return of refugees and the rights of all Syrian citizens.
For her part, Ambassador Barbara Woodward affirmed the United Kingdom’s support for the Syrian efforts in achieving political and economic stability.
She stressed the importance of continued coordination among all international parties to advance the process of gradually lifting sanctions, taking into account the stages that Syria is going through in the post-conflict phase.
Ambassador Woodward also expressed Britain’s readiness to work with the United Nations and international partners to support the transitional justice process in Syria, highlighting the need for this process to be part of a comprehensive dialogue that ensures a balance between justice and reconciliation.
Both sides emphasized the importance of unifying international efforts to comprehensively lift sanctions, in a way that contributes to advancing the peace process in Syria and its reconstruction, while focusing on promoting human rights and social justice.
Manar /Ruaa al-Jazaeri