Egypt says Assad regime has no future in Syria

13^min

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Saturday his country supported the Syrian revolution and that President Bashar al-Asasd's administration had no place in Syria's future.

"There is no place for the current regime in the future of Syria," Morsi, an Islamist, said during a televised speech to Egypt's Shura Council, or upper house of parliament.

Earlier, the international mediator who has struggled to end Syria's conflict said on Saturday that the alternative to a political process in the Middle Eastern country is "hell".

"If the only alternative is hell or a political process, then all of us have to work continuously toward the political process," U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

In turn, Lavrov said that the situation in Syria is worsening "but a negotiated solution to the 21-month-old conflict that has killed over 44,000 people remains possible."

Lavrov added that the Syrian opposition coalition's refusal to talk to President Bashar al-Assad's government amounts to a "dead end".

"We are sure this is a dead-end position which only will lead to degradation of the situation," said Lavrov, who also repeated Russia's position that Assad's exit must not be a precondition for a political process.

Brahimi arrived Saturday in Moscow to seek a solution to the Syrian crisis with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Brahimi's visit comes a day after Russia announced it was seeking talks with Syria's main opposition group.

Meanwhile, the United Nations will convene a pledging conference in Kuwait next month to try to secure more than $1.5 billion to help save the lives of millions of Syrians facing a "rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation," the world body said on Friday.

The conference will take place on Jan. 30 in Kuwait City and will be chaired by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. press office said in a statement.

On the field:

the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Syrian army took control of the besieged neighborhood of Deir Baalba in the city of Homs which is witnessing a dangerous humanitarian crisis due to fights.

LBCI/REUTERS

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