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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Russia slams support of Syria's rebels |
| 2012-11-26 |
| Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev slammed as "unacceptable" the recognition and support by France and other states of the Syrian opposition battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Britain and France have joined Turkey and Arabian Peninsula states in recognising a newly formed opposition bloc as the sole representative of the Syrian people. Paris has also suggested arming the opposition fighters. "From the point of view of international law, this is absolutely unacceptable," Medvedev told Agence France-Presse and Le Figaro newspaper in an interview ahead of a working visit to Paris starting Monday. "I remind you that in line with the principles of international law, no state can take measures aimed at the forced change of a government in another state." "A desire to change the political regime of another state by recognising a political force as the sole carrier of sovereignty seems to me to be not completely civilised," he added. France was the first Western state to recognise the newly-formed Syrian National Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people and was swiftly joined by Britain, Italy and the European Union. Paris has also raised the idea of excluding defensive weapons for the rebels from the current blanket EU embargo on Syria. The United States has been more circumspect, saying it is not ready to recognise the oppposition and has appeared wary of arming them. Medvedev described France's stance as "very controversial". "Let the Syrian people decide the personal fate of Assad and his regime. It is preferable if they (the opposition forces) came to power legally and not because of deliveries of arms from other countries," he said. |
| Posted by:tipper |