Dr. Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun:

I am very happy with the answers I have heard so far.

I am a son of Aleppo but I have been forbidden by the opposition to enter Aleppo for the last five years. Why has no one mentioned Bashar al-Assad? Two years ago his holiness and his beatitude met with Bashar al-Assad. He asked us to go to the opposition to start the process of reconciliation. He reminded us to take a bouquet of red flowers as a gift to the opposition so that they would come back with us.

I went to the places where the opposition were and I was able to bring back 2,000 opponents and they returned to their jobs. They were given an amnesty. A few days later the Qatari, Saudi and Turkish opposition made a move and threatened to kill all those who accepted the reconciliation.

The Senator said she heard my speech. I am 60 years old and I have never called on anyone to kill someone. I would like the committee to watch what was on television when, at 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve 2014, the opposition in Aleppo bombed the Christian areas. If committee members had seen how Christian children wearing their Christmas clothes were killed by the opposition's bombs. I will give the names of 4,000 people, half of whom were children and women, who were killed by the opposition's bombs in Aleppo. Give me the names of the civilians killed by the Syrian army. On that Christmas Day I went on television and asked the Syrian army to kill immediately any opponent who bombed civilians. The media stated the Grand Mufti of Syria pronounced a fatwa to destroy Aleppo but they did not see the churches and children being killed. I invite Senator Bacik and committee members to visit Syria if they want peace, and to meet Bashar al Assad, after which they can judge him and we will accept the judgment. Ireland is a small country but it is a peacemaking country. Qatar is even smaller, but it is responsible for four wars. Do not say Ireland is a small country, the peacemaker is big. I would like committee members to see it for themselves and not through the media.