SYRIA’S NEIGHBOURS and erstwhile friends kept up the pressure yesterday, urging the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to cease its violent attacks on the opposition.
Turkey warned its one-time ally that the government in Damascus was on a knife-edge and threatened to review its supplies of electricity if it did not change course.
In Moscow, Syrian opposition leaders sought to assure a sceptical Russia that they were seeking a peaceful resolution to their country’s crisis, but vowed never to negotiate with Mr Assad.
At the same time, the Arab League asked opposition groups to submit their vision for a transition of power ahead of a bigger conference on Syria’s future.
Last Saturday, when suspending Syria as a member, the league agreed to start talks with Syrian dissidents.
During the talks in Moscow, members of the Syrian National Council urged their hosts to back international calls for Mr Assad to resign, but Russia did not shift from its position of supporting dialogue while opposing what it sees as a western-backed bid for regime-change in Damascus.
“When we talk about people with whom were are not willing to negotiate, we have in mind the family of Bashar al-Assad, which is responsible for all the orders to kill and the bloodshed in Syria,” said Burhan Ghalioun, the head of the council.
“We told our Russian colleagues that to make the start of talks possible we believe it is necessary for Russia and the international community to send an important signal and demand Bashar al-Assad’s resignation. We want the crisis to be overcome . . . And we would like this without military interference from outside.”
Russia and China last month vetoed a draft UN security council resolution that would have cranked up pressure on Mr Assad.
In a move almost certainly aimed at assuaging critics, the Syrian authorities said last night they were freeing 1,180 prisoners. It was not immediately clear the reasons for their detention nor what impact the move could have on the opposition. Turkey’s economy ministry said it had established a Syria desk to monitor developments and to assist Turkish businesses doing trade in Syria. “Nobody now expects the people’s demands to be met. We all want the Syrian administration, which is now on a knife-edge, to turn back from the edge of the cliff,” Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a party meeting.
Non-Arab Turkey, after long courting Mr Assad, has lost patience with its neighbour’s failure to end an eight-month crackdown on protests against the president and implement promised democratic reforms.
Syria produces more electricity than it consumes and it has links with countries such as Jordan and Lebanon so the impact of Turkey pulling the plug would probably be limited. However, ending a supply route that began in 2006 would send a strong symbolic message about its disapproval and willingness to impose further sanctions.
The Arab League secretary general Nabil Elaraby “asked a delegation from the Syrian National Council on Monday to present in a document its vision for Syria through a transitional period”, said a league official, who asked not to be named. The official said the league will stage a big conference with the Syrian opposition to discuss its plans, with a date to be set after today’s league meeting in Morocco. – (Additional reporting by agencies)