Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad.
Lord of the Baath...
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained that while the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
had called for a halt to violence in Syria, Western capitals had been telling the opposition to refrain from dialogue with Assad, the RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies reported.
Russia, one of few powers still offering support to Assad, has repeatedly called on the West for a more balanced approach in the crisis saying violence by both the authorities and the opposition should be condemned.