Assad blames West for slow progress on political reform

THE SYRIAN president has reiterated his commitment to carry out reforms, as his foreign minister threatened retaliation against countries recognising an opposition umbrella organisation.

“Syria is taking steps focused on two main fronts – political reform and the dismantling of armed groups” seeking to destabilise the country, Dr Bashar al-Assad yesterday told ministers from Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia.

He blamed the lack of appreciable progress on reforms on “foreign attacks”, accused Western powers of having “little interest in reform” and said they sought to make Syria “pay the price” of opposing “foreign schemes” for the region.

Dr Assad’s remarks coincided with an announcement by Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, that Moscow was prepared to host talks between the government and the opposition.

“In our view, there is no alternative to broad-based dialogue,” Mr Bogdanov said.

Syria’s foreign minister Walid Muallem warned that Damascus would take “tough measures” against anyone according recognition to the Syrian National Council (SNC), formed last weekend. He was responding to an SNC meeting in Cairo that is seeking recognition for the council from the Arab League. SNC head Burhan Ghalyoun said he expected it to be accorded recognition in the “coming few weeks”.

Damascus appears concerned that if it achieves this objective, the SNC could attract external military support as did Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC), which has overthrown the country’s leader Muammar Gadafy.

However, the TNC did not win recognition until it controlled most of Libya’s territory. The SNC holds no territory.

Mr Muallem also criticised European countries where Syrian embassies had been invaded by protesters. “If they [governments] don’t provide security for our missions, we will treat them [their missions] the same way.”

He singled out the US and France, whose ambassadors have been critical of the Syrian regime’s crackdown on protests, which, according to the UN, has killed 2,900 civilians since mid-March.

“We don’t interfere in their business in the way some of them do in Damascus,” he asserted.

During the weekend demonstrators entered the Syrian embassy in Berlin and other Syrian diplomatic offices in Germany and Switzerland, following the killing on Friday of Kurdish opposition leader and SNC member Mishaal Tammo in the city of Qamishli.

Mr Muallem called him a “martyr” and said he had been slain because he opposed foreign involvement in Syria, although his family blamed the authorities.

Hundreds of Kurds gathered in Qamishli for the funerals of five people killed on Saturday during Mr Tammo’s funeral, which was, reportedly, attended by 50,000 people, the largest Kurdish demonstration since unrest began.

Kurdish dissidents have vowed to mount an intifada, or uprising, against the government in response to his assassination.