http://tehrantimes.com/middle-east/106048-russia-says-friends-of-syria-encourage-extremists
On Line: 01 March 2013 17:03
Russia says ‘Friends of Syria’ encourage extremists
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Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich
MOSCOW -- Russia said on Friday that decisions made at a "Friends of
Syria" meeting in Rome, at which Western and their Arab allies pledged
assistance for Syrian rebels, would embolden President Bashar al-Assad's foes
seeking his overthrow, Reuters reported.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said rebel attempts to
topple Assad would inevitably cause suffering among civilians in Syria, where
more than 70,000 people have been killed in a nearly two-year-old
foreign-sponsored insurgency.
"Decisions taken in Rome, as well as declarations voiced there, in letter
and spirit directly encourage extremists to (seek) the seizure of power by
force," he said in a statement.
After the "Friends of Syria" meeting on Thursday, the United States said
it would give non-lethal aid directly to rebels for the first time and would
more than double its support to Syria's civilian opposition, but Western powers
did not offer weapons.
Russia says it is not propping up Assad but has shielded him by blocking
UN Security Council resolutions aimed to put pressure on him to end bloodshed
and by insisting that his exit from power must not be a precondition for a
negotiated solution.
On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin cautiously welcomed French
President Francois Hollande's proposal that dialogue on Syria be broadened to
bring in parties that could act as negotiators between Assad and opposition
rebels.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says
outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the
unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of
being behind the killings.
Western states have been calling for Assad to step down. However, Russia
and China are strongly opposed to the Western drive to oust Assad.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from
outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the
armed militants are foreign nationals, mostly from Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi
Arabia
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