Syrian opposition wants to disrupt intl settlement efforts - ministry
MOSCOW. June 5 (Interfax) - Moscow is seriously concerned by the refusal of the Syrian opposition to comply with the peace plan proposed by United Nations - Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan, because it is an attempt to disrupt international efforts to depart from a confrontation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
"Such statements cause very serious concerns because effectively the talk is about a refusal by the armed part of the opposition to comply with its obligations under Annan's peace plan for Syria, approved by the UN Security Council," he told Interfax when asked to comment on the statement by a representative of the Syrian Free Army, refusing to follow Annan's plan.
"We see behind this a desire to disrupt the international efforts to move from a confrontation to a political process, including the UN monitoring mission in Syria," he added.
The full-scale deployment of this mission ended a few days ago, the diplomat said.
"We are talking about a trend which is bad and dangerous," Lukashevich said.
Apart from these statements, it was also announced on June 4 about the formation of yet another illegal armed group, a Syrian Rebel Army allegedly consisting of 12,000 people, he said.
"Apart from words, there is also a situation on the spot. Each day 20-30 soldiers and officers from the regular Syrian army are killed in Syria as a result of attacks by militants undermining the cease fire regime," Lukashevich said.
"How does this correlate with the call by al-Kurdi (Sami al-Kurdi, a Free Syrian Army representative) for peacekeepers to be introduced in Syria?" the Russian diplomat said.
As for the Syrian opposition calls for a no-fly zone to be imposed over the country, in this situation the international community must draw a lesson from the events in Libya, Lukashevich said.
"It is clear that such a scenario is only possible in a situation where illegal armed groups are getting outside moral support and supplied with weapons, ammunition and money," he said.
Russia repeatedly pointed to the unacceptability of such a situation and continues to call on the Syrian sides and external forces to act strictly within the logic of Annan's plan and not to try to use the fragile truce for building up the militant potential, the diplomat recalled.
"We expect the leading world capitals to fully realize the danger and amorality of plotting an even bigger bloodshed in Syria, driving this country into a civil conflict that could overspill beyond the country's borders and cover the whole Middle Eastern region with blood," Lukashevich said.
It was reported that a day earlier Syrian armed opposition representative al-Kurdi said that the Free Syrian Army is no longer going to comply with Annan's plan and urged the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Syria and introduce UN peacekeepers.