Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib urged President Bashar al-Assad
on Monday to take a clear stance on his initiative for dialogue, adding
that it was aimed at ending the bloodshed and to "help the regime leave
peacefully".
Alkhatib, speaking after meeting Russian and U.S.
officials in Germany, told al-Jazeera news channel that major powers
have no vision for a solution the war in Syria.
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that Syria's
government has no need of foreign fighters to quell the uprising.
"The army of Syria is big enough, they do not need fighters from
outside," Salehi told a conference in Berlin when asked if Tehran was
providing military assistance to Assad.
"We are giving them (Assad's government) economic support, we are
sending gasoline, we are sending wheat. We are trying to send
electricity to them through Iraq, we have not been successful," he
added.
For his part, Iranian Supreme National Security Council Saeed
Jalili said on Monday that Israel "will regret its aggression"
against Syria.
During a press conference held in Damascus
Jalili stressed that the “Zionist entity will regret the aggression done
against Syria with the same remorse it experienced following its 33
day war against Lebanon, and its attacks
against Gaza
at the end of 2008 and in 2012.”
Following a meeting with Iranian, Russian, and US officials in Germany, the Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib said that he would accept negotiations with Bashar al-Assad's deputy but said talks must be based on the principle of the regime's departure.
Alkhatib told al-Arabiya news channel that he had asked Iran to deliver his negotiations offer to Assad's government.
Israeli attack:
The New York Times Newspaper published on Saturday that according to US intelligence reports, the Israeli attack in Syria last week targeted “a convoy of antiaircraft weapons that appear to have damaged the country’s main research center for work on biological and chemical weapons”.
The newspaper added that a senior US military official said that any damage was likely “due to the bombs which targeted the vehicles” carrying the antiaircraft weapons, and from “the secondary explosions from the missiles.”
Syrian state TV has previously showed a video of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, claiming that it was damaged during an Israeli airstrike, while sources reported that the Israeli attack was against a convoy carrying weapons near the borders with Lebanon.
Diplomatic Activities:
Beijing announced that Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Moqdad will visit China
this week to meet with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, in what
was described as part of China's efforts to push for a political solution to
end fighting in the country.
Moualem will be in China from February 4-7, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.
Moualem last visited China, one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, in April last year.
China, along with Russia,
has blocked three Security Council resolutions aimed at pushing Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad out.
Separately, two Russians and an Italian have been freed in Syria after being held
hostage by rebel forces for nearly two months, the Russian Foreign
Ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said in a statement that Viktor Gorelov, Abdessattar Hassun
and Merio Belluomo, who were taken hostage on Dec. 12, had been
released in exchange for captured Syrian rebels. All three were in good
health, it said.
LBCI/REUTERS