Russia won’t let West to sabotage transition

MINSK / DAMASCUS

AA Photo

Russia said yesterday it would not let the West “sabotage” a political transition accord to end the escalating conflict in Syria as a massive bomb attack and a firefight shook Damascus.

A bomb exploded in central Damascus near several military buildings and a Dama Rose housing U.N. observers, wounding three people and sending a pillar of black smoke into the sky above the Syrian capital. The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) claimed the attack. Although the Damascus bombing occurred close to the hotel, its target was not clear. The area is home to a Syrian army officers’ club and a building belonging to the ruling Baath Party. It is also not far from the army command. Violence was also raging in provinces of Homs and Idlib, where anti-regime sentiment is strong. A gunbattle also erupted between rebels and troops near the offices of new Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi, who took office after his predecessor defected last week, and a new Iranian embassy building that is still under construction.

Violence was also raging in provinces of Homs and Idlib, where anti-regime sentiment is strong.

Government forces also stormed several districts of Damascus on the third day of security raids in the capital.

Russia said it would not let the West “sabotage” a political transition accord to end the escalating conflict in Syria that world powers agreed in Geneva at the end of June. “What was accomplished in Geneva should not be sabotaged,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters while on a visit to Belarus. “We will be trying to get an answer from our (Western) partners within literally the coming days about whether they support what they signed off on in Geneva,” Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying. “If so, why are they not taking measures to implement it?” Lavrov demanded.

Lavrov accused unnamed Western states of fomenting violence by openly supporting the armed opposition and said Russia expected a formal answer within a matter of days on whether they backed the accord. World powers on June 30 had agreed on a transition plan that did not make an explicit call for President Bashar al-Assad to quit power while urging the sides to appoint acceptable representatives to a unity government.