SAUDI ARABIA: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal meet in Riyadh to discuss ways of ending the Syrian regime's brutal crackdown on opposition forces
Record ID:
188925
SAUDI ARABIA: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal meet in Riyadh to discuss ways of ending the Syrian regime's brutal crackdown on opposition forces
- Title: SAUDI ARABIA: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal meet in Riyadh to discuss ways of ending the Syrian regime's brutal crackdown on opposition forces
- Date: 12th March 2012
- Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (MARCH 11, 2012) (REUTERS) SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL AND GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER GUIDO WESTERWELLE ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE HALL PHOTOGRAPHERS WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL ,SAYING: "The only way to achieve a peaceful conclusion to this state of affairs is to do something that convinces him (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) that a military solution is not possible, and for that the only way you can do that without foreign interference or intervention is by allowing the citizens of Syria to protect themselves. Without that protection there will be no opposition that can change the mind of the government from pursuing the bloody path that they are pursuing." WESTERWELLE POINTING HIS HAND TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER GUIDO WESTERWELLE, SAYING: "We are currently working on three targets. Firstly, an end of violence. Secondly, humanitarian support for the people and thirdly, peaceful political change. And one can see that that is possible in the example of Yemen. We are concentrated on that. We want a political solution, we support the work of the opposition which we have been advising in Tunisia. But we will now concentrate on the political issues. To be sure there are first signs of the erosion of Assad's regime, and we are encouraging those others who have been hesitating so far to turn their backs on the regime of Assad to do so now. To do so now." NEWS CONFERENCE HALL WESTERWELLE AND FAISAL LEAVING
- Embargoed: 27th March 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
- Country: Saudi Arabia
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA2QHOR9FD4IYO99KH7BSCDZUA3
- Story Text: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al Faisal, who met in Riyadh on Sunday (March 11) called for more pressure to be applied on the Syrian regime.
Faisal appealed for the Syrian opposition forces to be supplied with arms. He said they needed to have weapons if they were to halt President Bashar al-Assad's brutal suppression of his opponents.
"The only way to achieve a peaceful conclusion to this state of affairs is to do something that convinces him (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) that a military solution is not possible, and for that the only way you can do that without foreign interference or intervention is by allowing the citizens of Syria to protect themselves. Without that protection there will be no opposition that can change the mind of the government from pursuing the bloody path that they are pursuing," Faisal told reporters at a joint news conference with Westerwelle.
Saudi Arabia, which espouses a strict version of Sunni Islam, has an interest in seeing Assad fall because this could weaken Riyadh's Shi'ite regional rival Iran, which has been allied with Syria since 1980.
Westerwelle said priorities were being set on ending violence in Syria, providing humanitarian assistance and working for peaceful political change. He said Yemen provided a good example of how a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis could be brought about.
"We are currently working on three targets. Firstly, an end of violence. Secondly, humanitarian support for the people and thirdly, peaceful political change. And one can see that that is possible in the example of Yemen. We are concentrated on that. We want a political solution," he said.
Westerwelle made a veiled appeal to those nations who had been hesitating to ditch support for the Syrian government.
"To be sure there are first signs of the erosion of Assad's regime, and we are encouraging those others who have been hesitating so far to turn their backs on the regime of Assad to do so now. To do so now," he said at the news conference.
At an Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Saturday (March 10) Faisal said differences in the U.N. Security Council, where Russia and China have twice vetoed resolutions on Syria, had allowed the killing in Syria to go on.
The United Nations Security Council is to hold a special meeting on Arab revolts in New York on Monday (March 12), and Syria will likely to be the focus. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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