Russia: Syria, U.N. should agree on inquiry into alleged chemical attack

MOSCOW | (Reuters) - Russia urged the Syrian government and the United Nations on Thursday to agree on a visit by chemical weapons experts to the site of an alleged gas attack by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad that killed hundreds of people.

Syria's opposition has demanded that U.N. inspectors, who are already in the country to examine previous claims of chemical weapons use in its civil war, investigate the rebel-held region where the attack was said to have occurred.
Russia, Assad's strongest ally during the more-than-two-year-old conflict, has said that civilians were killed by "a homemade rocket loaded with an unidentified chemical agent" and that the attack was likely a provocation by opposition forces meant to place blame on the Syrian president.

Russia questions claims on Syria toxic gas attack

MOSCOW (AP) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry says the accusations that the Syrian government carried out a toxic gas attack seem aimed at undermining efforts to convene an international peace conference.

Syrian anti-government activists blame President Bashar Assad's regime for the attack that killed at least 100 people.

Russia says rebels may have staged alleged Syrian chemical attack

MOSCOW |(Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry called for a thorough investigation on Wednesday into reports that Syrian government forces had launched a chemical attack, suggesting that rebels could have staged the assault to provoke international action.

Syria's opposition accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces of gassing many hundreds of people - by one report as many as 1,300 - on Wednesday in what would, if confirmed, be the world's worst chemical weapons attack in decades.

Russia calls for investigation into alleged Syria chemical attack

MOSCOW |Aug 21 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry called for a fair and professional investigation into reports that troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had carried out a chemical weapon attack near Damascus.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Wednesday circumstances around the reports, including the presence of U.N. inspectors in the country, suggested that attack could be a provocation by the opposition.
"All this cannot but suggest that once again we are dealing with a pre-planned provocation. This is supported by the fact that the criminal act was committed near Damascus at the very moment when a mission of U.N. experts had successfully started their work of investigating allegations of the possible use of chemical weapons there," Lukashevich said in a statement.
(Reporting By Thomas Grove; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Russia says Syria peace talks unlikely before October

MOSCOW |(Reuters) - Russia wants a Syria peace conference to be held as soon as possible but it is unlikely to go ahead before October because there is a busy diplomatic schedule before then, a Russian diplomat said on Tuesday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said more talks were expected at the end of August on preparing the so-called Geneva-2 conference, aimed at bringing Syrian rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's government together.
"It (the peace conference) is unlikely to happen in September because there are different events, including the 'ministerial week' at the U.N. General Assembly," Gatilov told Interfax news agency.
"We are for it happening as soon as possible, but we need to be realistic about circumstances which could effect the forum."
Russian and U.S. officials agreed last week that the long-delayed conference should take place as soon as possible, but offered no concrete plan to bring the warring sides to the table.
Washington and Moscow, which has sold arms to the Syrian government and at times shielded Assad from condemnation and sanctions at the United Nations, said initially they would try to hold the conference by the end of May.
But the date keeps slipping, partly because the rebels are split and cannot decide who should represent them.
U.N. Arab League peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, who held talks with senior U.S. and Russian officials in Geneva, has ruled out a peace conference before August.
Battlefield gains by Assad have added to questions about when and even whether it will take place.
Gatilov also said Russia was still keen on including Iran in the talks, a proposal that Washington has not supported.
(Writing by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

UN should condemn the Kurds massacre in Syria: Sergei Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said UN should condemn the Kurds massacre in Syria, following reports saying over 400 Kurds were killed by Al-Qaeda linked rebels.
"We were shocked yesterday by media reports saying that around 450 peaceful Kurds, including more than 100 children, were slaughtered in northern Syria because men from their tribe were fighting against Jabhat al-Nusra."
"I consider that the UN Security Council will strongly condemn terrorism without any preconditions and will be consistent in its position. We could see previously that some members of the UN Security Council did not want to condemn terrorism in Syria on the assumption that, regardless of the fact that this sounds cynical, those who commit terrorist acts fight against the exhausted regime. This position is absolutely unacceptable. There should be no double standards in regards to terrorism," Lavrov said. [Reuters]

Senior Russian diplomat blasts use of child soldiers by Syrian rebels

 
The world must react to the fact that the Syrian anti-government rebels reportedly use children in combat, said Russian Foreign Ministry’s plenipotentiary for Human Rights.
“We hope that these facts will not be left without proper reaction on the part of the international community, including the UN General Secretary’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict,” Konstantin Dolgov noted in a statement published on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
Special representative Leila Zerrougui has just completed her visit to war-torn Syria and said on Monday that she was “overwhelmed” by the suffering of children there. Among other crimes, she mentioned that some groups were arming teenagers and using them in fighting.
The military conflict between the military loyal to President Bashar Assad and the assembled force of armed opposition, including militant Islamists and Al-Qaeda has continued since 2011, with an estimated death toll exceeding 100,000 people.
Russia promotes political dialogue on condition of ceasefire and criticizes the Western countries for their support of the opposition fighters. The United States has granted political support to the rebels since the start of the conflict, followed by direct military aid that, however, excluded weapons.
This week, however, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have approved the CIA program to send weapons to Syrian rebels, allowing the Obama administration to continue the pre-planned but stalled program.
Also this week, one of the members of Assad’s government visited Moscow and told reporters that Russia would continue supplying weapons to the Syrian army, including the modern S-300 anti-aircraft systems that could become a serious deterrent if foreign nations try to impose a blockade of Syrian airspace.-(RT)

http://on.rt.com/r0qo1l

Russia says U.S. drive to arm Syria rebels hurts chances for peace

MOSCOW | Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:39am EDT

(Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of stalling chances for peace in Syria by pressing ahead with plans to arm rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia is at loggerheads over the conflict with its U.N. Security Council partner, the United States, where President Barack Obama can now move forward with arming rebels after easing some congressional concerns.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference that Washington's plans would undermine joint efforts to organize an international peace conference on Syria that he agreed to with his U.S. counterpart, John Kerry, in May.
"If our American partners are now focusing on arming the opposition and are sharing plans... to strike Syrian government positions, then this, of course, runs against agreements to hold a conference," he said.
"That goes against our joint initiative."
The chances of bringing Syria's divided opposition and Assad's representatives to the negotiating table have faded in recent weeks, and help from Hezbollah has tilted the situation on the ground in Assad's favor.
More support from the United States could help the rebels push back. U.S. forces could help in various ways, the top U.S. military officer has said, from training to enforcing no-fly zones or conducting limited attacks on military targets.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Contract to supply Russian S-300 missiles still in force – Syrian deputy PM

Published time: July 22, 2013 09:21
Edited time: July 22, 2013 18:26

An S-300 surface-to-air missile system.(RIA Novosti / Uriy Shipilov)

The contract for supplying advanced Russian S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Syria remains in force, the Syrian Deputy PM Qadri Jamil confirmed during a visit to Moscow. He is seeking to secure a credit from Russia.
“All the agreements between Russia and Syria over arms supply are underway,” Jamil said. “The contracts continue; they are in force.”
He was speaking at a joint media conference after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russia signed a contract to supply the weapons several years ago before the internal conflict started. Moscow defends the planned delivery as legitimate and purely defensive, but is addressing concerns from other regional players that the S-300s would tip the balance of power in the Middle East.
Jamil is visiting the Russian capital for talks on trade and financial ties. Damascus is hoping to receive a credit line from Moscow before the end of the year, he said.
“Russia is taking a positive stance regarding providing credits. However, the amount, conditions and terms – are all technical questions, which are to be discusses by certain departments in both countries,” Jamil RT's Arabic sister channel, Rossiya Al-Yaum. “There is a political decision and under it, Syria will receive multilateral assistance, including in financial and banking sectors,” he added.
Syria needs money to maintain order in the face of the ongoing two-year conflict with armed opposition, fighting against the Syrian government. Jamil said the West, which backs the Syrian rebels, is bearing most of the responsibility for the suffering that the Syrian people are enduring now.

Qadri Jamil.(RIA Novosti / Alexander Natruskin)

“Syrians believe there is a full-scale war being waged against them,” the Syrian official said. “This war is being waged not only by political and military means. In this war, economic factors are being used as well. Thus, this has a direct, negative impact on the entire Syrian nation,” Jamil said.

“The loss of life and material damage are multiplied in the bloody clashes. The economy is also hurt collaterally,” the Syrian official said.
He said foreign countries took military and political steps to overthrow the Syrian government, but they failed.
Jamil added that Syria’s fate would be far worse without the help from its friends, including Russia. He thanked Moscow for its diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict.
Sergey Lavrov called on both the Syrian government and opposition groups to stop hostilities and join forces against extremists and terrorists operating in the country. The call for such action was voiced by members of the G8 during their summit in Lough Erne in mid-June. It should also be in the focus of a planned peace conference in Geneva, which Russia is organizing together with the United States, the Russian minister said.
Gathering the conference is stalled by some opposition factions, which unlike the Syrian government refused to participate, Lavrov said, a situation that should be changed.
“There is no military solution to the crisis. We would like to deliver this idea to all parties of the process without exception,” he stressed.

A Syrian girl crosses the street holding a bag in the centre of Syria's northeastern city of Deir Ezzor.(AFP Photo / Abo Shuja)

Jamil called on the organizers of the conference to invite Syria’s ally Iran, saying it is crucial for its success.
“Iran’s presence is needed just as much as the presence of other parties like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt,” he said. “Excluding any such party narrows down the conflict and delays its resolution.”
Syria has been torn by a bloody military conflict since 2011, with an estimated death toll exceeding 100,000 people. Opposition groups, including radical Islamists, are seeking to oust the government of President Bashar Assad, which fights the insurgency for the control of the country.
Many western countries and some Syrian neighbors in the region are backing the opposition forces, and have been for months, demanding the Assad government step down. They are assisting the rebels with diplomatic clout, supplies, military training and other forms of support.
Russia and China opposed the pressure on Damascus, blocking anti-Syrian draft resolutions in the UN Security Council and maintaining trade and diplomatic relations. Moscow and Beijing seek a political solution to the conflict, which would be agreed upon by both the current Syrian government and the majority of the opposition forces.
-RT

http://on.rt.com/efuxli

Russia: Al-Qaeda-linked extremists hold 200 Kurdish civilians hostage as ‘live shield’ in Syria.

Al-Qaeda-linked extremists have taken and continue to hold hostage about 200 Kurdish civilians, including women and children, using them as live shields in north-eastern Syria, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has stated.
Civilians remain hostage after Syrian Kurds clashed with Al-Qaeda linked militants in the north-eastern Syrian towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, along the Syrian-Turkish border over the weekend.
"In these areas, there has long been confrontation between the troops of the international extremists affiliated with al-Qaeda and local Kurdish militias who stood up to protect their homes from attacks by radical Islamists," Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on its website.
Syrian Kurd fighters captured a rebel leader, or emir, identified as Abu Musab. In response, Al-Qaeda extremists abducted 500 civilians, including woman and children.
“They started to kill innocent people by cutting off their heads,” the statement read. “Kurds had to free Abu Musab in exchange for an agreement to release hostages.”
Despite the Kurdish fighters agreed to release Abu Musab in exchange for people, about 200 people are still in the hands of extremists. The commander was freed as agreed. 
The Kurdish gunmen have been fighting to expel al-Qaeda militants from the northeastern province of Hassakeh over the past week, with the battle significantly intensifying over the weekend.

The clashes between the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jahbat al-Nusra erupted in the city of Ras al-Ain in the northern province of Hasakeh on July 16, when at least four militants were killed.  
 
The Kurds issued a “victory message,” celebrating the “liberation” of Ras al-Ain, claiming to hold control over the entire city as well as the headquarters of the Islamist combatant groups there. 
On Saturday evening, the fighting spread to the city of Tal Abyad. 
"Moscow strongly condemns the atrocities of international terrorists in northeastern Syria and the excesses and abuses perpetrated by extremists against a peaceful Kurdish population which is not involved in the ongoing political and military conflict in Syria," the Ministry said.
The city of Ras al-Ain is home to some 50,000 people including a mix of Kurds, Arabs, Christians, and Yezidis – a Kurdish religious minority. 
London-based RT contributor Afshin Rattansi says Western powers supporting organizations like al-Qaeda-linked Jahbat al-Nusra are to be blamed for the situation in northern Syria.

“There has been a discrimination of Kurds in that region, but now we have a situation where the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Britain are actively supporting al-Qaeda-linked organizations that are ransacking and murdering women and children - certainly over the past 48 hours,” he said. “All we are hearing from London and Washington are talks about a no-fly zone and arming the very people who are killing women and children there. And from Turkey, certainly the Turkish right wing has brought ideas of invading Syria from the north to kill more Kurdish people.”

Rattansi says the UN Security Council (UNSC) should look closely at the situation there. 
“Russia and China should bring this up at the UNSC. Otherwise, the prospect for these 200 hostages is pretty grim,” he said.(RT)
 http://on.rt.com/6hhudx

Russia is discussing extending a loan to Damascus

Russia is discussing extending a loan to Damascus to help its war-battered economy and is still committed to delivering S-300 missiles in defiance of the West, a top Syrian official said on Monday.
Visiting Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said after meeting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow that the issue of a Russian credit was discussed at the talks and Damascus hoped for an agreement by the end of the year.
"We discussed it, although it is still early to talk of concrete figures," Jamil said, quoted by Russian news agencies. "We hope that the question will be solved by the end of the year, experts are now discussing it." [AFP]