Mokdad lauds final NAM declaration as Ban meets with Syrians in Tehran

On the final day of the summit, NAM prepares a closing deceleration that will include suggestions which should reinforce the movement’s role internationally.      

In this context, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held on Friday several meetings with the Syrian delegation.        

Ban stated in a press conference that while meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Wael Al Halki and Foreign Affairs Minister Walid Al Moallem, he stressed that any sort of violence in Syria must stop. He also demanded the Syrian government to stop using heavy weaponry.     

For his part, Al Halki asked Ki-moon to pressure the states that are aggravating the crisis in Syria, stressing that the Syrian regime is ready for peaceful solutions.        

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mokdad, said that NAM's final statements supports Syria by lifting sanctions and lauding efforts made for a peaceful solution.          

Earlier, Ki-moon called on the Iranian regime to release hundreds of political detainees during his visit to Tehran to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit.              

“During my visit, I called on the [Iranian] authorities to release all the opposition leaders, Human Rights activists, journalists and social activists”, Ban said in a speech he made on Thursday at Tehran’s International Relations Institute.           

NAM is an international organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. NAM is the largest grouping of countries outside of the United Nations.              

NAM member states represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations' members and comprise 55% of the world population, particularly countries considered to be developing or part of the Third World.    

AP/LBCI