Russia's Lavrov says al-Assad committed to halting violence

Feb 7, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Beirut/Damascus - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held Tuesday what he described as 'very useful' talks with embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said that Damascus was committed to halting the bloodbath in the country.

Russia, along with China, vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria at the weekend.

Lavrov was greeted upon his arrival in Damascus with a cheering crowd, loyal to al-Assad, who celebrated the double veto, by Moscow and China.

'We reaffirmed to the Syrian president our readiness to help in stabilizing the situation.... and we intend to continue this in coordination with the Syrian leadership,' Lavrov said.

'President Assad assured us that he is fully committed to cessation of violence,' Lavrov said, according to Syrian state media.

The Russian official said that efforts to stop violence should be accompanied by dialogue with all political parties and said that al-Assad was ready to speak to all parties.

Al-Assad was quoted by the state-run Syrian News Agency SANA as thanking Russia for its stance at the UN Security Council and its commitment to supporting dialogue and national solutions instead of escalation.

'Syria welcomed from the beginning any efforts exerted to support the Syrian stability in Syria,' al-Assad told Lavrov.

The Syrian president stressed that Syria has fully cooperated with the Arab League observer mission in spite of the obstacles set by some Arab sides, SANA added.

The Russian official asserted that Syria was working towards the implementation of a much-awaited political reform program and on the timetable for a referendum on a new constitution, to replace the current one which has been prevailing in the country.

Lavrov also said Syria's willingness for the continuation and expansion of the Arab League mission to the country.

The Arab League deployed on December 26 some 165 observers in Syria to oversee a plan to end the bloodshed, but the operation was suspended in late January after violence instead escalated.

Russia, a major arms supplier to Syria and its main ally, and China have been criticized for their veto of the UN resolution, which was aimed at ending the violence by urging al-Assad to step down.

On Tuesday, 31 people were killed as violence continued to grip the restive areas, especially the central province of Homs, according to activists.

'Fourteen people were killed by heavy shelling that targeted the Khalidiyeh neighbourhood of Homs city,' Omar Idlibi, spokesman of the Syrian opposition Local Coordination Commitees told dpa in Beirut.

'The situation inside the restive neighbourhoods of Homs is miserable, people are with no electricity, water or fuel and snipers are targeting anything that moves in the area,' Idlibi said.

The Interior Ministry vowed on Tuesday to pursue a military crackdown in the restive city of Homs until order was restored.

Rami Abdul-Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said six army members were killed in the attack on Khalidiyeh, while six civilians were killed in shelling on the Baba Amr area also in the province of Homs.

Meanwhile, five civilians were killed in clashes in Zabadani area, located near the capital Damascus and the Lebanese border.

Activists in Idlib, said that the Syrian army is heavily shelling the village of Kafar Takharim, where there are army defectors, who joined the opposition's Free Syrian Army.

According to the last UN estimate in January, more than 5,400 people have died in the government's crackdown on pro-democracy activists since mid-March. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which regularly updates the number of casualties, says more than 6,800 people have died.

The deteriorating situation in Syria has prompted several European and Arab Countries to recall their ambassadors from Syria.

France, Spain and Italy announced Tuesday that their foreign ministries have recalled their ambassadors to Syria for consultation. On Monday Britain recalled its envoy, while the United States announced it was suspending operations in its embassy in Damascus.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council decided Tuesday to expel Syrian ambassadors from their countries in protest at the continued violence in the country. Their action came two days after Tunisia expelled the Syrian envoy.