Syria warns safe zones for civilians will be unsafe

beirut — Syria warned on Monday of safe zones for civilians that US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in creating, saying it would have to come in coordination with the Syrian government, otherwise it would be unsafe and violate the Arab nation’s sovereignty.

The announcement was made in Damascus by Foreign Minister Walid Al Moallem during a meeting with the head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, who began an official visit to Syria on Monday.

The announcement came about a week after the Trump administration’s expressed interest in setting up safe zones for civilians in war-torn Syria, an idea that was greeted with caution by Russia and Turkey, who have taken the lead in the latest peace efforts to end the Mideast country’s devastating six-year war.

Meanwhile, Al Moallem called on all Syrian refugees who fled the war in their homeland to return home, pledging that the government will meet all their needs. It was not clear if the call was related to Trump’s signing of executive orders placing a 90day ban on travel to the US by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen, and a 120-day suspension of the US refugee programme. Syrians are indefinitely blocked from entry. —