Russia has conditioned on Wednesday its approval of any international decision against Syria in the Security Council, ensuring that the resolution does not include military intervention in the country. This comes at a time when Abdul-Halim Khaddam, the former deputy to the Syrian president, affirmed that Bashar al-Assad had disarmed the army following the increasing number of defectors.
US-Russian Talks
The talks held by Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, with Russian officials, come as the US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, stated that Moscow and Washington are working to exert pressure on Damascus to implement the Arab League initiative. He confirmed that both countries agree on the necessity of stopping the violence in Syria and ensuring a peaceful transition of power.
These developments occur as consultations continue in the Security Council to support the initiative presented by the Arab League through a resolution expected to be issued by the end of the week.
The Arab initiative bears close resemblance to the Gulf initiative that addressed the Yemeni crisis, culminating in the acceptance by the Yemeni president to hold early presidential elections.
Khaddam: Assad Disarmed the Army
However, Abdul-Halim Khaddam, the former deputy to the Syrian president, confirmed in an interview with “Radio Sawa” that the situation in Syria is entirely different from Yemen. Khaddam called for the formation of an international alliance to carry out a military operation to control Syria, stating that President Assad has taken measures to withdraw weapons from the Syrian army.
He continued, saying that Assad “transferred most of the army’s weapons, including strategic weapons such as missiles, to the mountainous region on the coast and placed them in protected areas to disarm the Syrian army, especially those in reserve.” Khaddam added that Assad also moved the majority of military presence to Latakia Airport on the Syrian coast.
Syria is witnessing an increase in the number of defections from the army and police forces, joining the so-called Free Syrian Army, whose leaders claim its strength has exceeded 50,000 soldiers.
