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| Syria says ready for talks with rebels | |
| 2013-02-25 | |
| Moscow: Syria is ready to hold talks with its armed opponents, foreign minister Walidal-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet of negotiations with rebels fighting to overthrow President Basharal-Assad. But Moualem said Syria would continue its fight "against terrorism", a reference to its conflict with anti-Assad rebels in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed. "We are ready for dialogue with everyone who wants it... Even with those who have weapons in their hands. Because we believe that reforms will not come through bloodshed but only through dialogue," Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted Moualem as saying. He was speaking in Moscow, a staunch ally of Assad, where he was meeting foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
Syria's government and opposition have both suggested in recent weeks they are prepared for some contacts - softening their previous outright rejection of talks to resolve a conflict which has driven nearly a million Syrians out of the country and left millions more homeless and hungry. But the opposition has said any political solution to the crisis must be based on the removal of Assad, whose family has ruled Syria since 1970. The government has rejected any pre-conditions for talks aimed at ending the violence, which started as a peaceful pro-democracy uprising. The two sides also differ on the location for any talks, with the opposition saying they should be abroad or in rebel-held parts of Syria. Assad's government says any serious dialogue must be held on Syrian territory under its control. | |
| Posted by:tipper |