Russia says Syrian opposition should seek dialogue

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday a new Syrian opposition coalition, formed at the weekend to oust President Bashar al-Assad, should seek an end to the Syrian crisis through negotiation and reject outside interference.

The Russian Foreign Ministry gave the coalition, which has Western and Arab backing, a cool reception in a statement which cited media as saying the members had agreed not to enter talks with Assad's government.

Russia's "main criterion ... remains the readiness of such alliances to act on the platform of a peaceful resolution of the conflict by Syrians themselves, without external interference, through dialogue and negotiations," it said.

Representatives of groups including rebel fighters, veteran dissidents and minority groups agreed - after days of wrangling and cajoling by Arab, U.S. and other officials - to join a new assembly that can form a government-in-exile.

The United States had promoted the plan to unite factions into a more inclusive body than the prominent Syrian National Council. France said it would seek international recognition of the new entity "as the representative of the aspirations of the Syrian people".

Russia said some opposition groups declined to take part. In the statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Moscow would continue to maintain contact with the Syrian government and "the whole spectrum of opposition forces", encouraging them to take a constructive approach.

The West has criticised Russia and China for vetoing three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed to put pressure on Assad to end a conflict activists say has killed more than 32,000 people since his forces cracked down on protests in March 2011.

Russia says it is not trying to prop up Assad, whose country has been an avid buyer of its weapons and hosts a naval supply facility that is Moscow's only military base outside the former Soviet Union.

Russia says Syria's crisis must be resolved without foreign interference, particularly military intervention.

(Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-says-syrian-opposition-seek-dialogue-110845421.html

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