Turkey, Saudi Arabia to misuse ceasefire in Syria: Author

Press TV has conducted an interview with Saeb Shaath, author and Middle East expert from Belfast, on the US and Russian call for the cessation of hostilities in Syria.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Talk to us about the ramifications of this recently accepted ceasefire!

Shaath: It’s been the American side and the Russian side working hard to achieve this. Since the Americans claim they are fighting Daesh and al-Nusra and yet the related groups to both of them. And we hope so the Americans will be truthful to that.

The Syrian government is aware that cessation of hostilities plan will be used by the Turkish and the Saudis and the other parties, which the American supported to improve or at least to save what left from these terror ... the north Syria area and in Dara'a as well in there which the Syrian army succeeded in annihilating both of them.

So, it’s a measure to safeguard what is left at least and to use the ceasefire in very near future to at least rearm them, regroup them and at the same time, we are aware as well what happened after the direct threat which was encapsulated in the bombing of Seyeda Zainab area in Damascus and in Homs, which killed 150 people.

The message has been here the new tactics will be used in Damascus if ceasefire hasn’t been reached very soon as the old al-Qaeda technique. Daesh and ISIL will move in with the sleeping cells inside Damascus and all the big cities and wreak havoc. They were pressurizing the Turkish, the Americans and the Saudis to reach that ceasefire. Since they knew they are very quickly losing the ground in all over Syria.

The Syrian regime under this massive pressures with the life of its citizens and with the international pressure on it to accept this ceasefire, they stated, they reserve the right to fight Daesh, Jabhat al-Nusra and the related groups and warned third parties from intervening and strengthening these groups and using the ceasefire to improve their positions.

But at the same time, I’m worried in the future the name of Daesh or Jabhat al-Nusra will be changed to something else. So, these third parties, which the Syrians referring to as the Americans themselves, the Zionist entity, the Turkish might say: “We are not supporting al-Nusra or Daesh. We are supporting wherever new name in there. And this is a new name. We have a new logo, wherever new ideology even.” We know they are the same old groups, which these third parties “they created in Syria and recovered.”

So, the battle is not over. The battle is going to be long and the winner of the battle who is going to eliminate these terror gangs on the ground in Syria.

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