Russian MPs seek to broker an end to Syria violence
SYRIA: A group of Russian lawmakers arrived in Damascus in a
bid to broker an end to violence in Syria, where security forces were
reported to have killed two more people.
Moscow is a traditional ally of President Bashar al-Assad, and the
delegation, which flew in Saturday, aims to meet him and opposition
figures, news agencies reported.
"Russia cares about the fate of the Syrian people. That's why we want
to find a way to stop a negative scenario developing," Russia's Interfax
quoted Ilyas Uumakhanov, vice president of the Russian upper house, as
saying.
"Russia is against any external interference in Syria's domestic
problems and is ready to assist where it can with internal political
dialogue, which should take place in a peaceful atmosphere, without
victims," he added.
"We intend to assess the situation, lead the consultations with the
different political forces."
Syria's SANA news agency said the group began a four-day visit to
meet "independent politicians and the opposition." No date was given for
the meeting with Assad, and it was not clear which opposition forces the
delegation intended to meet.
Russia has continued to support the Syrian regime despite its
crackdown on protests that the United Nations estimates to have killed
around 2,600 people. Earlier, Mikhail Margelov, special representative
of the Russian president, said the delegation would seek to "clarify the
facts, to see firsthand what is really happening."
Foreign media are not permitted to circulate freely in Syria. On
Saturday, Syrian security forces killed two people as they conducted
searches in the northwestern province of Idlib, according to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights. The victims, a man and a woman, were
killed in the town of Khan Sheikhun, the British-based group told AFP by
telephone.
For its part, SANA said one member of the security forces was killed
and another wounded in an ambush by an "armed terrorist group" in the
same town.
It also said five members of the security forces were killed in an
ambush in the central city of Homs.
The Russians arrived a day after Syrian security forces shot dead at
least 22 people in operations across the country, the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said, as pressure mounted on the regime to end the
crackdown.
Moscow has refused to support Western sanctions against Assad and
argued that equal pressure should also be placed on the protesters who
refuse to engage Assad in direct talks. It has repeated the Syrian
regime's claims likening protesters to "terrorists." AFP |