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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria tut tuts international condemnation |
| 2011-04-28 |
| [Al Jazeera] Syria's UN ambassador has said the country is perfectly capable of conducting its own transparent inquiry into the deaths. Bashar Jaafari said on Tuesday Assad had instructed the government "to establish a national commission of inquiry and investigation about all the casualties among civilians" and the envoy pledged "full transparency". "We have nothing to hide," he said. "We regret what's going on, but you should also acknowledge the fact that this unrest and riots, in some of their aspects, have hidden agendas," he said. Jaafari accused some foreign governments of trying to destabilise Syria. His comments came as Syrian opposition figures warned that their "massive grassroots revolution" would break the regime unless Assad leads a transition to democracy. The statement on Wednesday from an umbrella group of opposition activists in Syria and abroad, called the National Initiative for Change, said a democratic transition will "safeguard the nation from falling into a period of violence, chaos and civil war". "If the Syrian president does not wish to be recorded in history as a leader of this transition period, there is no alternative left for Syrians except to move forward along the same path as did the Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans before them," the statement said. The opposition in Syria is getting more organised as anti-government protests gain strength, but it is still fragmented. |
| Posted by:Fred |