Damascus, SANA – Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Ahmad Majdalani said the Palestinians do not want the al-Yarmouk camp to be a battlefield among the terrorists groups.
In statements following his meeting with State Minister for National Reconciliation Affairs Dr. Ali Haidar in Damascus on Wednesday, Majdalani said the ISIS views al-Yarmouk Camp as a springboard for launching attacks and broadening the scope of areas under their control in southern Damascus.
He said the latest developments in the camp are linked to the regional ones.
The PLO official added that he and minister Haidar discussed the role of the Syrian state in preserving security and protecting civilians: Syrians or Palestinians.
“The Palestinian leadership and the PLO will support any decision taken by the Syrian government regarding al-Yarmouk Camp,” he said, indicating that in light of the current situation the chance to reach a political solution in the camp is “very unlikely.”
Majdalani said an inter-Palestinian consensus inside the camp is badly needed as a means to end the presence of ISIS.
For his part, Minister Haidar said that neither the Syrian state nor the Palestinian leadership is administrating the camp. But, he said, “certain sides are trying to change the geopolitical situation in the camp to make it Damascus’ soft belly.”
He stressed that the priority for the Syrian leadership is to force terrorists, particularly ISIS, to flee the camp.
Answering a question on whether Majdalani had requested the Syrian army to enter the camp, Haidar said Majdalani stated clearly that the issue is on a Syrian land and that they are cooperating with the Syrian state in every decision it makes, and when the Syrian state decides that the army will enter the camp, then the Palestinian authority will support it.
On the humanitarian situation inside the camp, Minister Haidar said the Syrian state is cooperating with the international humanitarian aid organizations, adding that the Syrian state is providing about 80% of the humanitarian aid, with the other 20% provided by the international institutions and charities.
He stressed the need for a military solution in the camp, a solution that is not favored by the government but which terror organizations made necessary.
Mohammad Nassr/Manal