President Assad says anti-terror war not limited to Syria, Libya

Assad made the comments during a meeting with a delegation from Libya’s eastern Tobruk-based government on Monday.

The fight against terror by both Syrian and Libyan governments, he added, goes on in the face of impeding foreign intervention.

The Libyan delegation was co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Abdul-Rahman al-Ahiresh as well as Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Abdul-Hadi al-Hawaij.

Both sides agreed that what was going on in Syria and Libya, in terms of militancy, was the same.

Assad said the war of terror will determine the fate of the region in the face of schemes put into gear by some regional states that are trying to impose their will on other countries using their own tools.

Referring to intervention of the Turkish government in Syria’s affairs and its onslaught against the northern parts of the Arab country, Assad emphasized that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime’s policies are based on using terrorism to achieve its political interests and this is a major factor fomenting instability across the region.

Both sides also discussed ways through which the two countries could activate bilateral cooperation in all sectors, on top of which would be opening diplomatic missions. Furthermore, they stressed those bilateral ties, which bind the two brotherly peoples in a way that serve the mutual interests of the two countries, should be reactivated.

On Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and his Libyan counterpart, Abdul-Hadi al-Hawaij, signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the reopening of diplomatic missions in Syria and Libya, “particularly in standing in the face of Turkish interference and aggression.”

Libya plunged into chaos in 2011, when a popular uprising and a NATO intervention led to the ouster of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.