Establishment of safe zones in Syria, unrealistic idea: Activist

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has rejected a plan put forward by the US president to set up "safe zones" in Syria allegedly to protect refugees fleeing violence in the war-torn country and to stem the flow of displaced people into other countries.

This comes as the United Nations also has rejected safe zones, saying the status quo in Syria does not allow for the creation of safe havens in northern Syria.

Ken Stone, a member of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War believes the establishment of safe zones in Syria is an “unrealistic idea”, adding that it is against international law.

“In the first place, international law since 1649 has been based on national sovereignty and the US cannot dictate to other countries what it would like to do on their sovereign territory. The US is not exceptional, the US is not indispensable and it is not above international law,” the activist told Press TV in an interview on Saturday.

He also hailed President Assad for his “realistic” decision to reject US President Donald Trump’s idea of creating safe zones for refugees in Syria.

Stone further argued that setting up safe zones in Syria by the United States would mean the deployment of troops to the war-torn country.

He also pointed to the no-fly zones over Iraq and Libya, arguing that they have destroyed the territorial integrity of these two countries.

The activist further opined that even if these so-called safe zones are created, there is no guarantee that they would be safe from terrorist attacks, given the fact that the United States has for almost six years "aided and abetted the terrorist mercenaries operating inside Syria".

“What really needs to be done is for all the countries of the world and all the people of those countries to do whatever they can to restore the control of the Syrian government over all of its national territory in order that it can protect all of the Syrian people,” he said in conclusion.

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