Russian Parliamentarians' Initiative Welcomed In Damascus

President of Syria Bashar Assad fully supports the initiative of Russian Parliamentarians to hold in Moscow an international meeting of Parliamentarians on the Middle East problem. Assad said this to journalists on Monday during the meeting with a delegation of the State Duma (parliament's lower chamber) headed by chairman of the State Duma profile committee Dmitry Rogozin. The president of Syria stated that he would do all possible to continue the policy of his late father Hafez Assad aimed at strengthening Syrian-Russian cooperation. Bashar Assad reaffirmed the position of his country which demands unconditional return of the occupied Syrian territories by Israel. He also stressed that this stand is backed by the international community and is based on the respective resolutions of the UN Security Council. In Bashar Assad's opinion, it is extremely necessary to achieve a clear and coherent definition of the notion of "international terrorism". He stated that Syria comes out against any terrorist actions, but stressed that it deems it necessary to resist occupation and seizure of others' territories. Dmitry Rogozin told newsmen that the Russian side's initiative to hold in Moscow at the beginning of next year an International Parliamentary Conference on the Middle East had been discussed in detail during the conversation of the Russian MPs with the president of Syria. Bashar Assad backed this initiative, having stated that the Parliamentarians of Syria would participate not only in the conference itself but are also ready to take part in the work of the organising committee.