chemical warfare accusations ‘intervention pretext’,says Jamil

MOSCOW,(ST)- Emerging from talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow Friday, the leader of Syria’s opposition National Front for Liberation and Change Qadri Jamil also accused the West of trying to act out ‘the Libya scenario’ in Syria.

Russia issued a denial Friday of a statement from its point man on Syria.The Foreign Ministry insisted it is not changing its stance on the  Syrian government,according to AP.

“In that context, Bogdanov again confirmed Russia’s principled stance that a political settlement in Syria has no alternative,” the ministry’s spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said in the statement.

This was reinforced by Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil, who was in Moscow on Friday to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “There have been no changes in Russia’s position,” Jamil told journalists after the meeting. “Russia stands for dialogue and against foreign interference.”

“Our only goal is to end the violence in Syria as quickly as possible, start a dialogue between the Syrians, between the government and the opposition, and work out a formula for advancing a political process,” Lukashevich said. “There hasn’t been and there won’t be any retraction from our principled line on the Syrian affairs.”

Syrians believe the Western accusations that the Syrian government is about to deploy chemical weapons are aimed at creating a pretext for Iraq-style military intervention in Syria,according to Moscow Time.

M.D