European blood
11-30-2011, 10:55 AM
DAMASCUS, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem on Monday accused the international community of turning a blind eye to the fact that armed groups are behind the violence in Syria, as the United States and its Western allies seem determined to accuse Syrian government by urging it to "halt violence immediately."
At a press conference held in Syria's capital of Damascus, Moallem charged that the Arabs and their Western backers refused to believe in the existence of armed groups in Syria, but instead "they accuse the Syrian army of committing crimes against the Syrians."
Moallem also urged neighboring countries to stop the smuggling of weapons and funds through borders, as well as to stop all campaigns of media provocations by Arab TV channels. He noted that armed and terrorist groups have stepped up their crimes following the withdrawal of the Syrian army and security forces from some cities.
Syria has, from the start, accused what it called "armed terrorist groups" of carrying out attacks and crimes against civilians and army personnel with the aim of plunging the country in bloodshed.
During Monday's press conference, a short video showing massacres committed against Syrians by alleged armed groups was aired. The film ends by listing the names of policemen and security agents who were killed over the past eight months.
The video also referred to what it described as misleading media campaigns against Syria, the most recent of which a Christian child from the central province of Homs, whose relatives have confirmed that he was killed by gunmen and said had the army remained in the neighborhood, the boy would not have been killed.
About 969 army personnel were killed over the past eight months of unrest, according to a list of the diseased officers' names that was distributed to reporters after the conference.
Shortly after Moallem's conference, the United States and the European Union (EU) renewed their calls on Syria to end violence immediately, according to a U.S.-EU joint statement.
The statement coincided with another report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria in which the commission accused the Syrian army and security forces of crimes against humanity in handling the protests inside the country.
"The Commission has concluded based on its findings that members of the Syrian army and security forces have committed crimes against humanity in their repression of largely civilian population in the context of peaceful protest movement," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a member of the Commission, told a press conference held in Geneva.
Syria has repeatedly accused the West of complicating the situation in Syria by urging the opposition not to embark on a dialogue with the Syrian government and to "support the armed men. "
Moallem renewed the government's invitation to all opposition figures outside Syria to engage in the dialogue "to build up the future of Syria." However, he said the West is regrettably preventing opposition figures outside Syria from getting involved in a national dialogue.
Earlier this month, The U.S. Obama administration has further urged the armed groups in Syria not to surrender themselves to authorities in Syria after Damascus announced an amnesty to those who turn themselves in.
The Western-backed Syrian National Council (SNC), a group of Syrian opposition abroad, has been roaming across Europe soliciting the international community's recognition of it as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Many Syrians appeared on the national TV, pointing out that "we haven't heard of these people (broad-based opposition) until recently, so how could they represent us?"
The SNC has further called on Turkey to impose a buffer zone along its borders with Syria, apparently to give the so-called Syrian Free Army (SFA), a group of alleged defectors, a Benghazi- like area.
In anticipation to such move, the Syrian army has finished deployment along the borders with Turkey in an operation titled " break the illusion," according to the Lebanese al-Manar TV.
The SFA has recently claimed responsibility of many attacks that targeted governmental and army bases. Their latest attacks claimed the lives of 22 army officers, including 6 pilots.
While the international uproar and threats to Syrian regime increases, Russia was set to send warships, including its only aircraft carrier, to the Syrian port of Tartus in early spring next year, a senior Russian officer was cited by the Russian daily Izvestia as saying.
The vessels include the Admiral Kuznetsov, which will have eight Su-33 fighter aircrafts, several new MiG-29K fighter jets and two Ka-27 naval helicopters on board, according to the daily.
"The call of the Russian ships in Tartous should not be seen as a gesture towards what is going on in Syria ... This was planned already in 2010 when there were no such events there," the officer was quoted as saying.
However, former Russian naval chief Victor Kravchenko said the naval mission to Tartous will prevent any NATO military involvement in Syria, according to the paper.
Tartous already hosts a Soviet-era naval supply and maintenance base, under a 1971 agreement with Syria, which is still staffed by Russian naval personnel.
Moallem, however, reasserted that there would be no military intervention in Syria.
As part of the escalating pressures on the Syrian government, The Arab League (AL) on Monday hit Syria with economic sanctions after Damascus missed the AL deadline to sign a draft protocol to allow hundreds of observers into the country as part of a peace deal Syria agreed to early this month to end the crisis.
The AL sanctions included freezing Syrian government's funds, halting the commercial business with Syrian government except strategic commodities that affect people's life, and suspending flights to Syria.
The resolution was backed by 19 members of the 22-nation organization, except Iraq and Lebanon, two neighboring countries of Syria.
Syria said the draft protocol represents an encroachment against Syria's sovereignty.
Moallem said the AL was pushing, via its recent decisions, to internationalize the Syrian crisis, noting that the AL sanctions demonstrate their premeditated intention for escalation in Syria.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/29/c_131275399.htm
At a press conference held in Syria's capital of Damascus, Moallem charged that the Arabs and their Western backers refused to believe in the existence of armed groups in Syria, but instead "they accuse the Syrian army of committing crimes against the Syrians."
Moallem also urged neighboring countries to stop the smuggling of weapons and funds through borders, as well as to stop all campaigns of media provocations by Arab TV channels. He noted that armed and terrorist groups have stepped up their crimes following the withdrawal of the Syrian army and security forces from some cities.
Syria has, from the start, accused what it called "armed terrorist groups" of carrying out attacks and crimes against civilians and army personnel with the aim of plunging the country in bloodshed.
During Monday's press conference, a short video showing massacres committed against Syrians by alleged armed groups was aired. The film ends by listing the names of policemen and security agents who were killed over the past eight months.
The video also referred to what it described as misleading media campaigns against Syria, the most recent of which a Christian child from the central province of Homs, whose relatives have confirmed that he was killed by gunmen and said had the army remained in the neighborhood, the boy would not have been killed.
About 969 army personnel were killed over the past eight months of unrest, according to a list of the diseased officers' names that was distributed to reporters after the conference.
Shortly after Moallem's conference, the United States and the European Union (EU) renewed their calls on Syria to end violence immediately, according to a U.S.-EU joint statement.
The statement coincided with another report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria in which the commission accused the Syrian army and security forces of crimes against humanity in handling the protests inside the country.
"The Commission has concluded based on its findings that members of the Syrian army and security forces have committed crimes against humanity in their repression of largely civilian population in the context of peaceful protest movement," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a member of the Commission, told a press conference held in Geneva.
Syria has repeatedly accused the West of complicating the situation in Syria by urging the opposition not to embark on a dialogue with the Syrian government and to "support the armed men. "
Moallem renewed the government's invitation to all opposition figures outside Syria to engage in the dialogue "to build up the future of Syria." However, he said the West is regrettably preventing opposition figures outside Syria from getting involved in a national dialogue.
Earlier this month, The U.S. Obama administration has further urged the armed groups in Syria not to surrender themselves to authorities in Syria after Damascus announced an amnesty to those who turn themselves in.
The Western-backed Syrian National Council (SNC), a group of Syrian opposition abroad, has been roaming across Europe soliciting the international community's recognition of it as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Many Syrians appeared on the national TV, pointing out that "we haven't heard of these people (broad-based opposition) until recently, so how could they represent us?"
The SNC has further called on Turkey to impose a buffer zone along its borders with Syria, apparently to give the so-called Syrian Free Army (SFA), a group of alleged defectors, a Benghazi- like area.
In anticipation to such move, the Syrian army has finished deployment along the borders with Turkey in an operation titled " break the illusion," according to the Lebanese al-Manar TV.
The SFA has recently claimed responsibility of many attacks that targeted governmental and army bases. Their latest attacks claimed the lives of 22 army officers, including 6 pilots.
While the international uproar and threats to Syrian regime increases, Russia was set to send warships, including its only aircraft carrier, to the Syrian port of Tartus in early spring next year, a senior Russian officer was cited by the Russian daily Izvestia as saying.
The vessels include the Admiral Kuznetsov, which will have eight Su-33 fighter aircrafts, several new MiG-29K fighter jets and two Ka-27 naval helicopters on board, according to the daily.
"The call of the Russian ships in Tartous should not be seen as a gesture towards what is going on in Syria ... This was planned already in 2010 when there were no such events there," the officer was quoted as saying.
However, former Russian naval chief Victor Kravchenko said the naval mission to Tartous will prevent any NATO military involvement in Syria, according to the paper.
Tartous already hosts a Soviet-era naval supply and maintenance base, under a 1971 agreement with Syria, which is still staffed by Russian naval personnel.
Moallem, however, reasserted that there would be no military intervention in Syria.
As part of the escalating pressures on the Syrian government, The Arab League (AL) on Monday hit Syria with economic sanctions after Damascus missed the AL deadline to sign a draft protocol to allow hundreds of observers into the country as part of a peace deal Syria agreed to early this month to end the crisis.
The AL sanctions included freezing Syrian government's funds, halting the commercial business with Syrian government except strategic commodities that affect people's life, and suspending flights to Syria.
The resolution was backed by 19 members of the 22-nation organization, except Iraq and Lebanon, two neighboring countries of Syria.
Syria said the draft protocol represents an encroachment against Syria's sovereignty.
Moallem said the AL was pushing, via its recent decisions, to internationalize the Syrian crisis, noting that the AL sanctions demonstrate their premeditated intention for escalation in Syria.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/29/c_131275399.htm