Lavrov: Syrian regime change would spell more bloodshed

Feb 15, 2012, 18:41 GMT

Vienna/Moscow - More people will die in Syria if the international community pushes for regime change and if the government and the opposition do not sit down to talk, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Wednesday in Vienna.

Lavrov said the West's call for Syrian government forces to stop the violence without also calling on protesters to do the same could play into the hands of Islamist movements such as al-Qaeda.

'The call for regime change as a precondition for everything else is a direct path for even more innocent victims,' he said after meeting his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger.

'I assume that nothing is impossible if you sit down at the negotiating table,' he added.

Lavrov was scheduled to talk with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe about Syria on Thursday, on the sidelines of a Vienna conference on opium trade from Afghanistan.

Earlier Wednesday, Syria's ambassador to Moscow accused Western nations and their Arab allies of arming the opposition 'terrorists' responsible for much of the violence.

President Bashar al-Assad's regime blames the violence on 'terrorists.'

'Almost the entire world is fighting a bloody war against Syria. It is being fought on all levels: Diplomatic, economic, in the media and by military means,' Riad Haddad told a news conference, Interfax news agency reported.

'This is the work of armed terrorist groups which are being financed from outside,' he said. He estimated their number at 'several thousand.'

Speaking against the backdrop of growing calls for al-Assad to step down, he said: 'There is no chance of it at all. The president of our country is legitimate and was elected by a majority of the people.'

Responding to an Arab League proposal for a peacekeeping mission to help bring an end to the bloodshed he said: 'Syria has categorically rejected this option.'

Together with China, Russia - a long-time ally of Syria - vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at ending the government crackdown on opposition protests.

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