RUSSIA SAYS READY TO HELP SYRIA START RECONCILIATION DIALOGUE
PanARMENIAN.Net
November 12, 2011 – 09:49 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Russia is willing to help the opposing sides in
the Syrian political crisis start a reconciliation dialogue, Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday, November 12.
“We feel the responsibility to make everything possible to initiate
an internal dialogue in Syria,” Lavrov said after a meeting of APEC
Foreign Ministers in Honolulu.
Lavrov expressed regret over the fact that certain representatives of
the Syrian opposition, especially those residing in the United States
and in Turkey, are boycotting any proposals aimed at the talks with
the Syrian authorities.
“We will attempt to convince [the opposition] to take a more
constructive approach and to care about their country,” the minister
said.
A delegation of the opposition Syrian National Council is expected
to visit Moscow next week to meet with Lavrov and Russian lawmakers,
RIA Novosti reported.
Opposition leaders maintain that Syrian authorities continue to use
force against “peaceful demonstrations” and many people were killed
or injured as a result.
Meanwhile, the authorities say that the troops and police are clashing
with militants, who are financed from abroad and attack administrative
bodies and ordinary citizens.
According to UN estimates, more than 3,500 people have been killed in
Syria since mid-March, when first protests against President Bashar
al-Assad’s regime began.
Russia and China vetoed in October a UN Security Council draft
resolution that urged the Syrian regime to immediately stop using
violence against protesters or face “targeted measures.”
However, Moscow and Beijing have called on the Syrian government to
quickly carry out its commitment of political reform and to resume
and promote an inclusive political process that involves the wide
participation of all parties in the country.