Syria rejects cooperation with international community

Jan 31, 2012, 22:22 GMT

New York - Syria's UN Ambassador Bashir Jafaari Tuesday rejected any idea of cooperation with international efforts to quell 11 months of fighting, and blasted the Arab League's presentation to the UN Security Council.

'Syria would never accept that its sovereignty is violated,' the ambassador told the council in a dramatic discussion of its unrest. 'The Syrian people were always able to solve their problems by themselves. It has never needed the intervention from outside.'

Jafaari charged 'foreign powers' with trying to destablize his country. 'Syrians had big hopes fore the Security Council and the Arab League - that they would end Israel's occupation of Arabic lands and the Israeli killing of Arabs.'

'But some Arabian countries appear to be indifferent, they would rather intervene in the internal problems of Syria ... How strange is this that the Arab League is here to seek support from the council against Syria,' Jafaari said. 'Syria has always defended the cause of Arab countries.'

Jafaari rejected charges made against his government by council members, saying that what was happening in the past year was caused by the Britain's occupation of the Middle East region in the 20th century.

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