IRAQ: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki calls for national dialogue in Syria and says the regime cannot be toppled by force

Record ID: 280537

  • Title: IRAQ: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki calls for national dialogue in Syria and says the regime cannot be toppled by force
  • Date: 2nd April 2012
  • Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (APRIL 1, 2012) (REUTERS) IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MALIKI ENTERING HALL FOR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MALIKI, SAYING: "The logic of force will not topple the regime. The regime can not be toppled by force. We said that before and they said it will f
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq, Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6HKLHFNIUDYXR2NC0K2C2GJ5O
  • Story Text: No outside force can topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the use of force would deepend the crisis in the region, Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Sunday (April 1) .
    Assad is under international pressure to call his troops and tanks back to their bases, a year into a popular revolt against his iron rule.
    U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan is trying to calm the conflict in which Syrian security forces have killed more than 9,000 people, by a U.N. estimate, while rebels have killed 3,000 troops and police, according to Damascus.
    His six-point plan demands that Assad order his military to cease fire, withdraw troops from cities and open daily windows for humanitarian aid, but does not require him to step down.
    Iraq's Prime Minister said Assad's government could not be toppled by force.
    "The logic of force will not topple the regime. The regime can not be toppled by force. We said that before and they said it will fall within two months, we said within two years. It has been more than that and the regime did not fall, and will not fall. And should it fall? The regime is clinging and struggling and the opposition is clinging and struggling and weapons are available and the crisis and the bloodshed will continue. Our job as Arabs and Muslims is to extinguish fire and to round up the crisis as long as the crisis can be interacted, develop and expand and has ramification. Even if the regime falls, what will happen after that? Noone is thinking about that, but we have to think and we have the right to think, first because we are Arabs and second because we are a neighbour."
    Gulf Arab countries within the "Friends of Syria" group have pushed for more support to be given to the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), formed to fight back after months of violent repression of unarmed protesters. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Saturday it was a "duty" to arm the rebels.
    Iraq's PM said this would create a greater crisis.
    "We reject arming the opposition. We reject any process to overthrow the regime by force because this will create a greater crisis in the region that might send sparks and fire to all the countries. However, we also support the demands and the will of the Syrian people and its endeavours to achieve its goals. We think that political dialogue and internal national dialogue with the support of the United Nations will help the Syrian people achieve their goals and preserve Syria as a unified country where all its components can exist regardless of ethnic and national affiliations."
    Syria sits at a crossroads of the Middle East conflict and borders Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Iraq and Lebanon. Its 23-million population comprises a mix of faiths, sects and ethnic groups whose tensions resonate in neighbouring states.
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