Syria Warns Countries Not to Recognize Opposition Group
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem also responded to the attacks on several Syrian Embassies in Europe over the weekend, saying <a href="http://wk.putianb2b.com/"><strong>上海兼职 </strong></a> his government would not provide protection for diplomatic missions in Damascus belonging to countries that did not protect Syria’s missions abroad. Meanwhile, the government’s crackdown on protesters continued, with at least 17 people killed Sunday, activists said. Mr. Moallem’s comments were the government’s first official statement regarding the Syrian National Council, an umbrella opposition group formed in Istanbul last week. “I am not interested in what they are trying to achieve,” he said. “And we will adopt strict measures against any country that will recognize the illegitimate council.” No country has recognized the Syrian National Council yet, though there have been reports that its members are seeking international recognition. Burhan Ghalioun, an opposition leader and a member of the council, said he expected the council to be recognized in the coming weeks. Mr. Moallem’s comments suggested that the government was worried that the council could play a role similar <a href="http://wk.putianb2b.com/"><strong>广州兼职 </strong></a> to that of Libya’s transitional council, which helped lead the campaign to topple the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. While the government voiced a hard line against the opposition, matching the harsh military crackdown on antigovernment protests across the country, Russia, a longtime Syrian ally, invited both sides to hold talks in Moscow. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the Ria Novosti news agency on Sunday that he expected a delegation of five or six representatives of the Syrian opposition to arrive in Moscow on Monday for talks with Russian officials. He did not identify the delegates or indicate whether they were affiliated with the Syrian National Council. “Our main message today is that all these problems in Syria have built up over many years and cannot be solved in one swipe, especially through force and confrontation,” Mr. Bogdanov said. “In our view, there is no other alternative besides broad political dialogue with the participation of all constructive forces in the country, the government and the opposition.” He said Russia would be willing to cooperate in bringing the two sides together and had “considered proposing” to the government and the opposition that they hold negotiations in Moscow. Although Russia has spoken out against the Syrian government’s crackdown, it has rejected calls for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, one of Moscow’s strongest allies in the Middle East. Last week, Russia joined China in vetoing a United Nations resolution condemning the violence, expressing fears that the measure could be used to justify Western military intervention like that in Libya. There was no immediate response from Syria to the proposal. Mr. Moallem spoke to reporters in Damascus after meeting <a href="http://wk.putianb2b.com/"><strong>兼职网 </strong></a> a delegation from Latin American countries, including Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia. The delegation, which was in Damascus to support the Syrian government, also met with Mr. Assad. The show of solidarity contrasted sharply with the protests and attacks on Syrian Embassies over the weekend in response to the killing of a prominent Kurdish opposition leader on Friday in northern Syria. Protesters broke into the Syrian Embassy in Berlin, another diplomatic mission in Germany, and one in Switzerland. In Austria, 11 protesters were arrested trying to storm the embassy in Vienna, and five protesters were arrested at the embassy in London. Mr. Moallem told those countries to protect Syrian diplomatic missions. “If they don’t provide security to our missions, we will treat them the same way,” he said. He also criticized <a href="http://inbookmark.com/mybookmark.php"><strong>上海兼职 </strong></a> the French and American ambassadors, who have been staunch critics of the government crackdown, in which at least 2,900 people have been killed since the protests began in mid-March. “We don’t interfere in their business the way some of them do in Damascus,” he said. Of the at least 17 people who were killed as the government’s crackdown continued, nine were in Homs, in central Syria; five were in towns on the outskirts of Damascus; one was in Hasaka, in the north; one was in Latakia, in the north; and one was in Hama, in central Syria, according to activists from the Local Coordination Committees, an opposition group.
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