TURKEY: Syrian opposition's transitional Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto calls on Western powers for military and humanitarian assistance as members of the opposition urge Russia to change its stance on Syria.

Record ID: 276496

  • Title: TURKEY: Syrian opposition's transitional Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto calls on Western powers for military and humanitarian assistance as members of the opposition urge Russia to change its stance on Syria.
  • Date: 17th April 2013
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (APRIL 17, 2013) (REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU, SYRIAN NATIONAL COALITION LEADER MOAZ AL-KHATIB AND DELEGATIONS BEING SEATED DAVUTOGLU AND AL-KHATIB SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN NATIONAL COALITION MEMBER LOAY SAFI SAYING: "What we is that he (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov) is supporting the regime that is
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5CXSM1I576W8NPM2NLU1INBX9
  • Story Text: Syrian opposition's transitional Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto called on the international community on Wednesday (April 17) to provide humanitarian and military assistance to topple the country's embattled President Bashar al-Assad.
    Hitto's remarks came ahead of Friends of Syria meeting which will take place in Istanbul on Saturday (April 20).
    International powers will search for a peaceful settlement to Syria's civil war with fresh urgency at the Istanbul meeting after a rebel faction aligned itself with al Qaeda.
    Saturday's meeting of 11 countries from the Friends of Syria alliance will come after the al-Nusra Front, among the strongest formations seeking to topple President Bashar al-sad, pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri on April 10.
    Hitto said he will also attend the meeting along with Syrian National Coalition leader Moaz al-Khatib, a moderate cleric from Damascus, who said he was resigning as head of the Syrian National Coalition in March after other members of the main opposition group attacked his proposal for negotiating with Assad.

    "We will attend this meeting and we believe that the friends of Syria have been doing a great job and helping Syrian people through since the start of the revolution. We will continue to look for our friends for assistance and help" Hitto said.

    "I, as the Prime Minister with the responsability to form a government, I will have also request given the opportunity for the international community to provide assistance for this government upon its ratification by the coalition. We need their help. We need a lot of assistance. We need military help. We need humanitarian help. We need all sort of help to get on the ground and get started in serving the Syrian people." he added.
    Western powers, which want to see the end of the Assad family's 43-year rule but do not want to intervene militarily in Syria, have been alarmed by the advance of groups like the Nusra Front in a conflict which has deepened the Middle East's sectarian divide.
    The Istanbul meeting, whose full agenda has not been finalised, will also discuss how to pressure Assad, who has been backed by Iran and Russia, into accepting a negotiated ment.
    The conflict, which pits the Sunni Muslim majority against Assad's supporters among his Alawite sect, has prompted both Sunni and Shi'he Middle East to fight in Syria. The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
    Sectors of the opposition want to force a U.S.- and Russian-backed settlement on both Assad and hardline groups like the Nusra Front.
    In February, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said in Moscow that Assad's government was ready for talks with rebels. But fighting intensified and rebels made gains particularly in Syria's east, which accounts for all the country's oil output and most of its grains production.
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