Russia Denounces Syrian Rebels’ Terror, To Receive Opposition Delegation
Russia accused Thursday the Syrian rebels of waging a wide-scale terror campaign that is designed to kill as many civilians as possible despite a formal ceasefire.
"Opposition groups have essentially reverted to waging wide-scale terror in the region," the foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, adding that " the attacks aimed at killing as many peaceful civilians as possible had the hallmarks of al-Qaeda involvement."
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will receive a delegation of the internal Syrian opposition from the "National Front for Change and Liberation" led by Qadri Jamil.
In an interview with Itar-Tass, the opposition figure hoped that "the visit to Moscow will contribute to the resolution of the Syrian crisis."
"Russian diplomacy plays an active role in this respect and we would like to coordinate our activities," he said, noting that " the balance of force indicates that we have to start negotiating."
According to Jamil, "the situation in the country is changing, albeit slowly, for the better after the arrival of the ceasefire monitoring group."
The Russian agency further reported that "external players stay committed to peaceful settlement and push the external opposition -- the Syrian National Council - towards further confrontation."
For his part, the Russian foreign Minister stressed that "the mission has already played a positive role."
He further hoped that "the number of observers will be increased to 300 shortly as required and approved by the United Nation's Security Council resolution."
"I hope that those who try to provoke the mission's failure in Syria will not succeed," he added.
Source: Itar-Tass, Edited by moqawama.org
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