Peace talks
January 31, 2012
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday said it has invited the Syrian government and the opposition for peace talks in Moscow, hoping to defuse hostilities that continue to fuel violence in the country.
The ministry said in a statement that the government had already accepted the invitation, and that the talks must begin "as soon as possible" to end the violence.
"Our offer has already received a positive response from the Syrian authorities. We are expecting that the opposition will also give their assent in the next days and put the interests of the Syrian people before any other ideas," it said.
Opposition groups have previously rejected negotiations with the authorities, arguing that the violence must stop first. The United Nations estimates that about 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of anti-government uprisings.
Slowing down Security Council action
Russia has been the most vocal opponent in the UN Security Council of a resolution condemning Damascus for its crackdown on protesters. Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Security Council on Monday that Russia wanted to study recommendations from the Arab observer mission in Syria before discussing such a resolution.
"It would be logical, considering the complexity of this issue, for Security Council members to be able to study the recommendations and conclusions of the observer mission in detail," the Interfax news agency quoted Gatilov as saying. "Only after that would it be possible to count on a substantive discussion of this issue in the Security Council."
The EU, meanwhile, voiced outrage over the bloodshed in Syria at a summit in Brussels, with EU President Herman Van Rompuy urging the Security Council to "take long overdue steps to bring an end to the repression."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement on Monday that "the violence must end so that a new period of democratic transition can begin."
On Tuesday, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby is scheduled to brief the Security Council on the League's plan to have Syrian President Bashar Assad cede power to a national unity government.
Western and Arab countries have introduced a draft resolution supporting the plan, but resistance from Russia and China, which both hold veto power, has slowed down any real progress on the issue.
Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Nicole Goebel