A Damascus-based political commentator believes that the government of Bashar al-Assad has been working very hard to calm the situation in Syria and reach a political settlement in order to bring back peace and stability to the country.
Iran Foreign Ministry has expressed gratitude to Syria for securing the release of 48 Iranian pilgrims abducted by foreign-backed militants in the Arab country. In a statement on Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry also thanked Turkey and Qatar for their aid in securing the release of pilgrims. The statement also congratulated the Iranian nation on the return of the abductees to their families and Iranian nation, and sincerely thanked those who were involved in their release. The statement described the abduction of Iranian pilgrims as inconsistent with the human principles and harmful to the security and stability of the region. The ministry expressed hope for lasting peace and security in Syria, with the immediate cessation of hostilities and violence in the country. The Iranian pilgrims, who were traveling on a bus from Damascus International Airport to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (AS) on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, were abducted by the militants on August 4, 2012.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Alaa Ibrahim, a journalist and political commentator in Damascus, to further talk over the issue. The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: The release of these Iranian pilgrims, is it a stretch to think that diplomacy can work and perhaps there is room for some type of mediation in terms of the overall situation in Syria regarding some of the players involved?

Ibrahim: When you witness the fighting that we are witnessing here in Syria, you would think that diplomacy is stretch to achieve such achievements but then again you would see today’s exchange and maybe it will allow a change in minds for many of us.

First of all, I must say that all the Syrians, everyone I spoke with in Damascus today, are very happy and the fact that the 48 Iranians are now safe and on their way back to their families but the unfortunate fact remains that there are still two Iranians who are still abducted and we do not know when they will be released, hopefully soon.
I think there are two contradicting perceptions for what happened today. The first says that this is part of an ongoing political context, meaning that maybe this indicates some movement on the Syrian crisis file between Iran on one hand and Turkey and Qatar on the other hand because obviously Turkey and Qatar have a very strong role in the release of these hostages because they are paying the salaries of the insurgents so they can control them and control what they do.
And there is another perception in Damascus that says that this is a humanitarian issue that was dealt with on the humanitarian basis and that is that. I think it is too early to say which is correct.

Press TV: And if you want to look at what perhaps is down the road regarding the political side of the story, this is apart from the pilgrims, what are we to see right now? This comes after Assad gave that speech; this was a speech that was long awaited for his last appearances have been in July.

Ibrahim: Well, I will tell you something. We know for a fact that the negotiations have not occured for quite some time, for months maybe. So I think it would be a bit hasty to link them with the president’s latest speech that he gave a few days ago.

However, I think there is a relation and the relation is that the Syrian government is now working in more than one level and communicating with more than one side in order to achieve a political settlement for the crisis in Syria.

But I do not think the speech is directly linked or the stance that the president made in his speech is directly linked to the release of the pilgrims, as you call them. But I think we can link it to the ongoing political efforts and that has been escalated recently especially we heard a lot about the Russian-American settlement; we heard a lot about Iranian stance from the Russian-American settlement and Turkey’s stance and Qatar’s stance.

So yes, there is maybe a political context for this exchange and that is the more likely option actually.

By Press TV

 

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