By Vestnik Kavkaza
Syrian President Bashar Assad predicted that the West would pay for support of al-Qaeda in the military conflict in his country. “Despite all attempts to burn religious conflicts in Syria, there is no threat of the country’s division to confessions, Assad believes.
Mufti of the Perm region Muhammedgali Huzin told Vestnik Kavkaza that “Syria is the closest foothold for expanding the activity of terrorist organizations and armed groups to Russian territory. Syria is a prototype of the Russian Federation, with its multi-ethnic and multi-confessional component. It has an Orthodox Church, one of the oldest in the world and also a friend of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Muslim community of the Syrian Republic... These communities that for a thousand years peacefully coexisted and respected each other, are now under threat. Churches, monasteries and Muslim shrines are being destroyed. It is no secret what has been going on in Libya, in Tunisia, in Mali, when the religious fanatics are fighting against history, against the heritage and culture of people.
All these events, such as the destruction of the mausoleums of Libya, religious monuments in Mali that are several centuries old and are protected by UNESCO as world cultural heritage. This barbaric destruction and the killings of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people. The earlier events in Iraq, where more than a million of civilians were killed. Certainly, this catastrophe can come to the Syrian land as well. There is too much death and murder there today. Just recently the terrorists murdered in the mosque of, perhaps, the last and greatest of the theologians and teachers of the time, Mohamed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti, who was bombed during a lesson with his pupils. 45 pupils of his died at the same time and more than a hundred were sent to hospital in serious condition. This is exactly a sign of what may come to the Syrian land and can later spread further to the North Caucasus and Russia in general.
Speaking about possibility of fighting extremism, Muhammedgali Huzin stated that “it is quite possible, if every member of the UN or at least of the Security Council adheres to common standards and stops financing the militants. Both Al-Qaeda and Syrian militants confirmed that there were certain connections and agreements about joint action. So it is an international gang that is financed, unfortunately, by France, Britain, the US and other countries. If their double standards are removed, peace in this blessed land is achievable. We can fight extremism only together. The international community has the right to and needs to apply some measures, using international agreements and legislation, measures against those who support world terrorism and extremism.”
Meanwhile, in recent times possible cancelation of the European embargo on supplying armament to armed opponents of Bashar Assad is discussed. Speaking about providing weapons to militants by foreign countries, the head of Israeli’s government Benjamin Netanyahu said: “It depends on the kind of rebels and weapon. We are concerned about the fact Syria possesses the missile defense systems and chemical weapon. If they get in terrorists’ arms, a balance of forces will change in the Middle East, and it will threaten the world security.”
Israel takes a neutral position in the Syrian conflict. Commenting on the situation in Syria, the Israeli Ambassador in Russia Dorit Golender stated: “During two years 70,000 Syrians were killed there, according to the UN. It is a bloody civil war. It is a disastrous event of our century. Israel, which is situated in the Middle East, near Syria attentively follows the developments. In these two years Israel has never interfered with internal policy of any country. Of course Israel is worried about Syrian chemical weapon can get in hands of terrorist organizations, Hezbollah which intend to destroy Israel. There were several shootings toward Israel, and Israel behaved moderately. There were injured people on the border between Syria and Israel, and Israel provided the injured with the humanitarian support. We are following the developments, but don’t interfere with their affairs. When the conflict started in Syria, it was thought it would take a couple of months. But this story is for a very long period time, and for sure Israel wants a normal and stable neighbor.”
