SYRIA: Internal opposition's conference on calls for immediate ceasefire

Record ID: 281406

  • Title: SYRIA: Internal opposition's conference on calls for immediate ceasefire
  • Date: 24th September 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (SEPTEMBER 23, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE KHALIL AL-SAYED, MEMBER OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PARTY, DURING THE NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) KHALIL AL-SAYED, MEMBER OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PARTY, SAYING: "The conference calls the regime's forces to stop the violence immediately and the armed opposition to commit to t
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA891EQFAUP152K3O6WQO52B178
  • Story Text: The "Rescuing Syria" conference attended by members of Syria's internal opposition called on Sunday (September 23) Syrian government and armed rebels to stop violence immediately.
    Khalil al-Sayed, Member of the National Development Party, read the final statement of the conference held in Damascus.
    "The conference calls the regime's forces to stop the violence immediately and the armed opposition to commit to the same under an appropriate Arabic and international supervision," he read.
    "The conference requests the UN-Arab Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi to call for an international conference about Syria where all concerned parties can play a part. The mission of this conference is to find the best political ways to start a transitional phase that guarantees the move towards a democratic regime", he read.
    Iranian, Chinese and Russian diplomats attended the conference.
    The conference came a day after 29 opposition parties announced they had postponed a conference that had aimed to unify the opposition until further notice because the NCB, Syria's government-sanctioned opposition, refused to be a part of it.
    Last July, a similar conference was cancelled after the owner of the venue was threatened by Assad's forces who fired on a pro-democracy protest outside, killing 14.
    Opposition groups say Russia and China, which have blocked Western attempts to secure U.N. sanctions against Assad, had promised to exert influence to protect Sunday's meeting.
    The internal Syrian opposition, which includes many outspoken critics of President Bashar al-Assad who have spent years in jail, has been accused of being too passive by rebel fighters and members of the largely foreign-based Syrian National Council, a political group calling for the international community to arm rebel factions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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