Syria Will Not Be Used as Launchpad for Attacks on Israel - Armed Opposition Leader
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The leader of the armed opposition that came to power in Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa (better known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani), said that he would not allow the country to be used as a launchpad for attacks on Israel.
"We are committed to the 1974 agreement and we are prepared to return the UN [monitors]," al-Sharaa said in an interview with The Times. "We do not want any conflict whether with Israel or anyone else and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks. The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions."
According to al-Sharaa, Israel must vacate the Syrian territories occupied after the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad, since the "justification is gone" for Israel's actions in the form of the presence of members of the Hezbollah movement and pro-Iranian forces.
Al-Sharaa called on other countries to lift all sanctions imposed on Syria during the rule of Bashar Assad.
"Syria is very important geostrategically. They should lift all restrictions, which were imposed on the flogger and the victim — the flogger is gone now. This issue is not up for negotiation," he said.
Syria's armed opposition captured the Syrian capital of Damascus on December 8. Russian officials have said that Assad stepped down as president after holding negotiations with participants in the Syrian conflict and left Syria for Russia, where he was granted asylum. Mohammed al-Bashir, who ran an Idlib-based administration formed by various opposition groups, was named interim prime minister on December 10.
