Syria Regime to Refuse 'Dictate' at Peace Meet
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The Syrian regime and its allies will refuse any "dictate" at an international peace conference, particularly concerning the departure of President Bashar Assad, a minister said.
The Syrian opposition and several of its allies have repeatedly demanded the departure of Assad in order to end the bloody conflict roiling Syria for more than two years.
"Syria will not accept any dictate and its friends will not accept it either," deputy foreign minister Faisal Muqdad said in an interview with Syrian state television Al-Ikhbariya late Tuesday.
Syria's key allies, Russia and Iran, has backed Damascus's insistence that Assad's departure is not on the table.
On Tuesday, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi also said Assad's departure was not up for discussion.
"We will not allow anyone to impose conditions on us... that affect the principle of sovereignty," he said, adding that the leader's future was an issue for the "Syrian people and the ballot box."
Syria is scheduled to hold presidential elections in 2014.
Last week in Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced plans for a new peace conference aimed at mapping a path towards a political transition in Syria and ending the bloody conflict now in its third year.
Muqdad also used the interview to criticize Syrian opposition backers including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.
"The success of any international conference... in order to achieve a political solution to the crisis depends on the good faith of those who support terrorism," he said using a regime term to describe the rebellion against Assad's rule.
"Ending terrorism and violence is essential to end the crisis," he added.
The war in Syria has so far killed at least 94,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The conflict has also displaced 4.2 million people, while more than 1.2 million are staying as refugees outside of the country.
15 May 2013, 07:48
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I would like to know the reason why the US and the other countries such as some EU countries after they gain the agreement from russia to lift the arms embargo who fund the war at the same time they pretend as is they worry the death and spill over the fight from Syria to Lebanon or the conflict spill over from Iraq to Syria. Nextly,I wonder the reason why the US defense must advice tocontrol the border by Free Syrian Army at the same time again they p@retend as if they seek the path for the peace. What the US and Other enthusiastic countries to fund the rebel obviously includes weapons and advicing the fighting strategy, notbaly since advice to organise themselves as the Brigades orchestrating with Al-Queda and affiliates groups by exchanging intelligence as explained by CIA top of the US. They have responsibility what killing never stop unitl now. They should not run away from it, I think.
15 May 2013, 09:28
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Hafez el Assad 'Allah yghame2lou' was a big criminal and thug and ruthless dictator feeding on the blood of his own people, but his son Bachar has proved to be much worse.. he is a world criminal having 100000 killed, and am sure he wont go unpunished!
