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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Russia warns of looming ‘tragedy’ in Aleppo | |
| 2012-07-29 | |
| Russia warned Saturday that a “tragedy” was looming in Syria’s second city of Aleppo but said it was unrealistic to expect the government would stand by when armed rebels were occupying major cities. “We are persuading the government that they need to make some first gestures,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference alongside his Japanese counterpart. “But when the armed opposition are occupying cities like Aleppo, where yet another tragedy is brewing as I understand,... it is not realistic to expect that they (the government) will accept this,” Lavrov added. The Syrian army launched a fightback against rebels in Aleppo on Saturday, amid concern among Western governments about reprisals against the civilian population of the country’s second city. “How can you hope that in such a situation, the government will simply reconcile itself and say ‘All right, I was wrong. Come on and topple me, change the regime’?” Lavrov asked rhetorically. “It’s just not realistic -- not because we are holding onto this regime -- but it simply doesn’t work,” he said in the news conference in the southern city of Sochi which was broadcast live by state media.
Aleppo has turned into what could be the key battleground of the 16-month uprising, as government forces launched a major push to drive out rebel fighters on Saturday. Troop reinforcements poured into the southwest of the commercial hub of some 2.5 million people, where the rebels concentrated their forces after seizing much of the city on July 20. Before this month, Aleppo had seen sporadic protests but had been largely spared the bloodshed that has engulfed other cities since the uprising against President Bashar al-AssadÂ’s rule broke out in March last year. The battle for the city of 2.5 million people is seen as a crucial test for a government that has committed major military resources to retaining control of its two main power centers, Aleppo and Damascus, in the face of a growing insurgency. While neither side has managed to gain the upper hand, the outcome of the uprising is being watched anxiously in the surrounding region and beyond, amid fears that sectarian unrest could spread to volatile neighboring countries. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Well, I want a thumbs up or down from Moscow. Playing rack time will only indulge more killing. Is it Iran or Syria? You really want to sit on this and how do you back it if it spirals again? Russia? |
| Posted by: newc 2012-07-29 00:48 |