Syria says armed groups behind unrest
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Xinhua, November 29, 2011
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem on Monday accused the international community of turning a blind eye to the fact that armed groups are behind the violence in Syria, as the United States and its Western allies seem determined to accuse Syrian government by urging it to "halt violence immediately."
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Tens of thousands of Syrians protest against Arab League's decision to impose sanctions against Syria during a rally at the Sabe Bahrat square in downtown Damascus, capital of Syria, on Nov. 28, 2011. [Xinhua] |
At a press conference held in Syria's capital of Damascus, Moallem charged that the Arabs and their Western backers refused to believe in the existence of armed groups in Syria, but instead "they accuse the Syrian army of committing crimes against the Syrians."
Moallem also urged neighboring countries to stop the smuggling of weapons and funds through borders, as well as to stop all campaigns of media provocations by Arab TV channels. He noted that armed and terrorist groups have stepped up their crimes following the withdrawal of the Syrian army and security forces from some cities.
Syria has, from the start, accused what it called "armed terrorist groups" of carrying out attacks and crimes against civilians and army personnel with the aim of plunging the country in bloodshed.
During Monday's press conference, a short video showing massacres committed against Syrians by alleged armed groups was aired. The film ends by listing the names of policemen and security agents who were killed over the past eight months.
The video also referred to what it described as misleading media campaigns against Syria, the most recent of which a Christian child from the central province of Homs, whose relatives have confirmed that he was killed by gunmen and said had the army remained in the neighborhood, the boy would not have been killed.
About 969 army personnel were killed over the past eight months of unrest, according to a list of the diseased officers' names that was distributed to reporters after the conference.
Shortly after Moallem's conference, the United States and the European Union (EU) renewed their calls on Syria to end violence immediately, according to a U.S.-EU joint statement.
The statement coincided with another report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria in which the commission accused the Syrian army and security forces of crimes against humanity in handling the protests inside the country.
"The Commission has concluded based on its findings that members of the Syrian army and security forces have committed crimes against humanity in their repression of largely civilian population in the context of peaceful protest movement," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a member of the Commission, told a press conference held in Geneva.
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