Assad’s days numbered, says Arab League chief

Assad’s days numbered, says Arab League chief

Russia accuses U.S. of ‘justifying terror’ in Syria

THE head of the Arab League has said the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad cannot last for long, saying its days were numbered in an interview published in the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.

Speaking after an Arab League meeting which called on Assad to step down, Secretary General Nabil Elaraby, also said the time for talking about political reform was over.

“There is now no talk about political reform, but a transfer of power,” he said.

But Russia yesterday lashed out at the United States for backing the armed opposition to the Syrian regime, saying Washington’s failure to condemn the July 18 blast that killed top security officials meant it was justifying terror.

“This is quite an awful position, I cannot even find the words to make clear how we feel,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.   “This is directly justifying terrorism. How can this be understood?”

Lavrov, according to Agence France Presse (AFP) yesterday expressed bewilderment at calls on Russia to clarify its position on Syria, saying Moscow’s policy was crystal-clear and it was the West whose actions were contradictory.

He criticised the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, saying she had argued that the attacks in Damascus meant the UN Security Council had to agree a sanctions resolution against Syria last week that Russia later vetoed.

“In other words, to say it in plain Russian, this means ‘we (the United States) will continue to support such terrorist acts for as long as the UN Security Council has not done what we want’,” Lavrov said.

Russia has repeatedly rejected accusations Moscow is backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the crisis, claiming it has an even-handed approach while rebuking the West for siding with the rebels.

Meanwhile, Turkey has sealed its border with Syria to trucks, effectively cutting off a trade relationship once worth almost $3 billion with the embattled nation, as regime forces fought to evict rebels from the country’s largest city.

Two more Syrian diplomats, the envoy to Cyprus and her husband, the former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, have also defected, according to the opposition Syrian National Council, in the latest sign of fraying support for the regime among its own elites. The announcement followed the televised appearance on Tuesday night of a defected regime general calling for a new Syria.

Amid the escalating conflict, the United Nations’ (UN) chief peacekeeper Herve Ladsous told reporters yesterday that half of the members of the UN observer mission in Syria had left the country, as it started its “final” 30-day mandate.