In a speech in parliament that was broadcast on Syrian state television, Wael al-Halqi said the government’s main aim was to “evict all terrorists from its land” this year, and that Damascus was ready to back “any initiatives against global terrorism.”
Meanwhile, the Western-backed Hazzm movement said it had joined the Islamist Jabhat al-Shamiyya, or Levant Front, an alliance of mostly Islamist groups that was formed in December and includes the Islamic Front, a coalition that includes Saudi-backed fighters and other Islamic groups.
"We appeal to our brothers in all factions to solve their differences with the (Hazzm) movement through the Jabhat al-Shamiyya leadership and its judiciary office by appealing to the sharia law of God," said a statement by the Levant Front that was posted on Twitter.
The Hazzm movement, a non-jihadist opposition group involved in the fight to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad, caved in to joining the Islamist coalition following increasing attacks by al-Qaeda’s Nusrah Front in the northern Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
The Hazzm movement has reported receiving small amounts of Western military aid, including US-made anti-tank missiles.
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) and other jihadi groups announced Saturday it carried out 27 strikes against enemy positions in Syria and Iraq since early Friday.
