Syrian information minister lectures on campaign against his country

Syria's Minister of Information, Mahdi Dakhlallah, said that Syria is the first country in the world to come under a malicious and misleading media war following massive development in all forms of media.

In a lecture he gave in the central city of Hama, he added that media has become an effective authority and real obsession in our modern daily lives.

He pointed out "that media in the past used to depend on lies through hiding or fabrication of certain information, but in our modern time, some media has been depending on up-to-date misleading methods that focus on excitement, selectivity and scoops."

The minister stressed that in most such cases, "the media markets untrue or inaccurate information or misleading headlines giving top priorities to marginal rather than substantial elements in dealing with critical issues."

He pointed out that the speech delivered by President Bashar al-Assad at Damascus University "had been a strong shock for misleading propaganda and stressed that Syria is strong and stands on firm ground as represented by the increase in Arab and foreign investments and the visits to Syria by many world political and economic figures."

The minister stressed that "strength of the Syrian stance is based on a Syrian deep insight into the events and issues in a rational way." He added that the media and political campaign against Syria seek to incite disagreement between Syria and Lebanon to serve of the Arab nations' enemies through destabilizing the region and controlling its resources.