KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday reiterated that Pakistan supports all efforts to facilitate a peaceful and inclusive solution to the conflict in Syria.

He said that the solution should meet the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people through a comprehensive political dialogue. which involves the entire spectrum of the Syrian polity, including the government and opposition groups.

The president said this while speaking to Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who called on him at Bilawal House today.

The meeting was attended among others by Ghassan Dallah, Director, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Dr Ali Muhra, Syrian Chargé d'affaires in Islamabad, Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani.

The president said that Pakistan firmly believes that Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty must be respected and that any outside interference would only complicate a complex situation and will have serious consequences for neighboring countries.

The drive for peace in Syria must be led and owned by the Syrian People, he said and offered Pakistan’s readiness to play its role in finding a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.

Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the president while expressing concerns at the fast deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Syria appreciated the efforts being made by Lakhdar Brahimi, joint representative of UN and League of Arab States (UN-LAS) and expressed hope that he will be able to convince the protagonists to resolve their differences through negotiations.

Highlighting Pakistan’s stance on the Syrian issue, the president said that Pakistan’s position on the situation in Syria in the UN is based on the principle of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of Syria and that Pakistan does not support regime change in any country by external forces.

Touching on Pakistan’s efforts on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit on the Syrian issue, the president said that would continue to support and facilitat any effort aimed at bringing peace and stability to Syria in accordance with aspirations of the people of Syria.

On Pak-Syria bilateral ties, the president said that Pakistan enjoys friendly and fraternal relations with Syria that are deep rooted in bonds of faith, history and culture.

He urged the need for the two countries to intensify efforts to expand cooperation in economic and commercial fields to further strengthen ties between the two countries.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Fayssal Mekdad said that Syria values its friendly relations with Pakistan and was keen to further strengthen its bilateral ties in various fields.

He thanked the president for the meeting and appreciated Pakistan’s efforts for peaceful resolution of the Syrian issue.

The deputy foreign minister also delivered a letter from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to President Zardari.

The president also hosted lunch for the deputy foreign minister and his delegation.

Reporting by Asif Mahmood