By Xinhua
Damascus : Mahmoud al-Abrash, Speaker of Syrian People’s Assembly, called Tuesday upon the Europeans to better understand the Middle East issues, the official SANA news agency reported.
Abrash made the call while meeting with a visiting British parliamentary delegation headed by Crispin Blunt, honorary chairman of the Middle East Council at the British Conservative Party.
“The Europeans should have a deeper understanding of the events and challenges facing the region’s peoples,” Abrash was quoted assaying, stressing that Syria seeks to achieve peace and stability in the region.
Syria rejects terrorism with all its forms and there should be a distinction between terrorism and national resistance, Abrash said.
For his part, Blunt highlighted the importance of improving bilateral parliamentary relations, saying that the delegation’s visit to Syria is part of a tour to learn the truth about events in the region.
Blunt, who also met with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara, said in a statement afterwards that his talks with Syrian officials was good, which “tackled a number of important issues of mutual concern between Syria and Britain.”
He also expressed the hope that “this visit will lead to a bigger understanding of Syria and the whole region in order to remove misunderstanding with the West and the United States.”