Tuesday, May 29, 2012

#Syria: #Russia - Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister said the Syrian opposition is trying to incite civil war in the country.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said on Tuesday that some countries are trying to derail the peace plan offered by the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan. He also said the Syrian opposition is trying to incite civil war in the country.

Lavrov said the following at a joint news briefing with his Peruvian counterpart Rafael Roncagliolo in Moscow:

We are certainly worried by continuing attempts to derail Kofi Annan's plan. Now the pretext being used is the tragic events outside the town of Houla on May 25."

"We were simply stunned by the public statement made yesterday or today by the leader of the Syrian National Council Burhan Ghalioun who openly called on all Syrian opposition forces to continue, as he put it, the liberation struggle until the UN Security Council approves the outside military intervention. This is a direct incitement to civil war."

"It directly contradicts Kofi Annan's plan, because Kofi Annan's plan stipulates the unification of the Syrian opposition not on the platform of civil war but on the platform of readiness for a dialogue with the authorities.

"And I don't know how the sponsors of the Syrian National Council can support efforts to unite all Syrian opposition under that umbrella."

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/syria-may-29-2012-1939

Reminder: Al Jazeera is an American mouthpiece.