UITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for political inclusivity and representative governance in “fraternal” Syria following the overthrow of the Assad regime exactly a month ago, saying the process should be Syrian-led and Syrian-owned that is backed by the United Nations.

“Today, Syria is at an important juncture in its history,” Ambassador Munir Akram, Permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council which debated the situation in that Arab country on Wednesday.

“The recent political developments offer the opportunity to restore normalcy, stability and peace in Syria,” he said, adding, “Yet this will depend on ensuring a peaceful transition to a new governance structure which is inclusive and stable and ensures Syria’s unity and territorial integrity.”

Earlier, Syria’s ambassador Koussay Aldahhak told the 15-member Council that the “dawn of freedom has broken”, and called on members of the UN to “respect the will of the Syrian people and its national choices.”

For this reason, he urged them to “immediately and fully lift unilateral coercive measures, to provide the necessary financing to meet humanitarian needs and recover basic services” and “to rehabilitate and reconstruct the damaged facilities and ensure demining.”

As the country is committed to improving conditions following 14 years of brutal conflict, the Syrian Ambassador called on the U.S. and other States to lift restrictive measures which targeted the previous regime.

Finally, he had a message for Israel in the Golan, “We stress the need to ensure that Israeli occupation entities do not take advantage of the current circumstances to violate Syria’s sovereignty in an attempt to impose a new reality through their military incursion to new parts of Syria,”

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In his remarks, Ambassador Akram, the top Pakistani diplomat, welcomed the positive statements and assurances from the leaders and representatives of the interim government, saying, “These must be translated into policies and implemented in practice.”