NEW DELHI, Sept 17 (Bernama) — Syria on Saturday accused “external” forces of trying to destabilise the country with the help of “radical Islamic” groups and the US of backing the Muslim Brotherhood which he said was “responsible” for bloodshed, reports Press Trust of India.
Syrian ambassador Riad Abbas, giving an account of the efforts to normalise the situation, said the president has already started the process of holding “national dialogue” with all groups but those behind the unrest are are not coming forward as they only want to “topple” the government.
Alleging that “external forces” are trying to destabilise the country by encouraging “extremist religious groups” like the Muslim Brotherhood and other outfits, he said the country has been targeted for raising the voice for the creation of a separate Palestinian state, besides other reasons.
“Syria is the only secular state in the area. We have been supporting the formation of the a Palestinian state and that is why there are efforts to destabilise the country. These external forces have their own agenda,” Abbas told reporters here.
He alleged the US has been supporting “the radical outfit Muslim Brotherhood which has been behind the unrest and bloodshed in the country”.
“The Americans have themselves said that they have been supporting the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said, adding the banned outfit, along with some other “extreme religious groups”, was behind the bloodshed.
Asked whether international observers will be allowed during polls which President Assad has announced, he evaded a direct reply but said Syria never believes in interfering in the affairs of other countries.
According to the UN, at least 2,600 people have been killed in the unrest in Syria since popular protests first broke out in mid-March.
Asked about the government crackdown on the protesters, the ambassador said the security forces have been taking “maximum precaution” in dealing with the protests and accused those behind the unrest of resorting to widespread violation of human rights and killing innocent people.
“The president has already presented a national agenda. He has already initiated a national dialogue process. But they do not want to come for talks as they only want to topple the government,” he said.
On the election, Abbas said no religious group or party will be allowed to participate in the polls as it will affect the “democratic” character of the country.
“The parliamentary elections will take place in February. But we cannot allow religious groups to participate as they have already said that they will force the Christian people to leave the country. We cannot allow this to happen as it will affect the secular nature of the country,” he said.
On whether elections will be free and fair, he said the country is embarking on democratic reform and the February polls will be “different” from polls held earlier in the country.
Dubbing media coverage of the unrest as “biased”, he said things are being shown in a distorted manner.
