Syria opposition denounces UN statement

Syria's main opposition group on Thursday said a UN statement calling for all parties to end violence in Syria will simply give the regime more time to continue killing its own people.
 

"Such statements, issued amid continued killings, offer the regime the opportunity to push ahead with its repression in order to crush the revolt by the Syrian people," said Samir Nashar, member of the executive committee of the Syrian National Council.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government on Thursday played up the lack of any threat or ultimatum in the UN Security Council statement backing special envoy Kofi Annan's mission to resolve its year-old crisis.

State news agency Sana noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed the measure, passed unanimously on Wednesday, stressing "the document does not contain any ultimatums, threats or assertions who is guilty."

"No warnings or signals in the statement," the Sana report was headlined.

Following intense negotiations among the major UN powers, Russia and China signed up to the Western-drafted text which calls on Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to work toward a cessation of hostilities and a democratic transition.

Russia and China have vetoed two Security Council resolutions on Syria that were backed by the United States and Europe, arguing they were unbalanced and aimed at regime change.

The statement, which carries less weight than a formal resolution and is non-binding, gives strong backing to a six-point plan that UN-Arab League envoy Annan put to Assad during talks in Damascus earlier this month.