Information Minister: Syria allowed over 300 media outlets to cover events in Syria

Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi affirmed that the government follows clear policies in dealing with foreign media when it comes to covering the crisis in Syria, with the government allowing any journalists to enter Syria and move around in it as long as they get permission from the Information Ministry due to the current events and out of concern for their safety.

During his meeting on Wednesday with a delegation of the Polish branch of the European Center for Strategic and International Studies which is currently visiting Syria, al-Zoubi said that his Ministry allowed more than 300 media outlets to visit the country and relay the events on the ground, asserting that the Ministry deals with media outlets regardless of their affiliation and position towards the Syrian people.

He stressed that the Ministry doesn’t interfere in the work of the journalists who visit Syria, saying “journalists are free to write what they want from the viewpoint they want, because any professional and honest journalist will only write the truth.”

Al-Zoubi briefed the delegation on the circumstances surrounding the death of French journalist Gilles Jacquier in early 2012 in Homs after he entered Syria illegally and was killed by terrorist elements, noting that the French government stopped asking for an investigation into his death after it found out that he was murdered by the very same terrorist groups whom the French government continuously calls for arming.

He pointed out that by allowing journalists to cover the events on the ground, Syria wants to inform world public opinion that Syria is fighting on behalf of the world and human civilization against terrorists,

Al-Zoubi said the Ministry seeks to overcome shortcoming in the national media’s efforts to relay the current events to the European public opinion through a number of steps like making documentaries available to the European audience.

The Minister noted that European media misuse terms when it comes to Syria by referring to the terrorists who come to it from all over the world as “Jihadists” when in fact they are nothing but criminals.

He warned against the expanding phenomenon of European extremists who come to Syria to fight the Army and kill the Syrian people, noting that these extremists are estimated to number around 1,000 and will pose a serious threat to their countries when they return to them and start to spread terrorism there.

Al-Zoubi refuted European media reports alleging that the Syrian Army used chemical weapons in its war on terror, stressing that Syria rejects the use of such weapons due to moral, principled and political reason and due to its international commitments.

He reiterated that Syria called on the UN the investigate the terrorists’ use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Asal in Aleppo, but the UN circumvented this request after being pressured from sides involved in supporting terrorists.

For their part, the delegation members voiced concern over the increasing numbers of terrorists who travel to Syria from Europe and fight alongside extremist organizations, calling for preparing lists of these extremists, their nationalities and the countries they came from, noting that a number of these terrorists’ families filed complaints to the European authorities in order to recover their sons.

They called for helping Europe’s free and independent media, which lacks the resources of media tycoons, to cover the events in Syria, particularly since a number of European major players in mass media are imposing a monopoly on relaying these events in a manner that suits their agendas.

Belgian MP: Foreign Terrorists Fighting in Syria should be punished

Member of the European delegation, Belgian MP Philip Dewinter called for prosecuting terrorists who came to fight in Syria and those who support them in light of the international counter-terrorism laws.

“The inevitable outcome of the return of terrorists to Europe is destabilizing the situation in the EU countries particularly as the EU governments didn’t take procedures to prevent them from returning there,” Dewinter said during the delegation meeting with the Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee at the People’s Assembly.

Chairwoman of the Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee at the People’s Assembly Fadia Deib referred to the conspiracy to which Syria is exposed which targets its stability and security, adding that a number of hostile countries exploit the international forums to instigate against the Syrian state.

Omar Ossi, Head of the National reconciliation Affairs Committee at the Assembly said that the events in Syria are “conspiracy which aims at overthrowing the Syrian state,” adding that Syria nowadays witnesses a political movement and democratic atmosphere.