Russia Likens Syrian Conflict “to Civil War”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov likened the conflict in Syria to civil war after an attack by defected soldiers on a heavily fortified military base in the Damascus suburbs. Lavrov stated that the Arab League “must call on all sides to end the violence.” It was also reported that Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammad Riad Shakfa stated that “his compatriots would accept Turkish ‘intervention’ in the country to resolve months of bloody unrest,” mentioning that they may “ask more from Turkey as a neighbor.”

Stating that  diplomatic efforts were “close to the end of the road,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani stressed at the Arab League meeting in Rabat that the Syrian regime had only another three days to comply with the League’s demands or face economic sanctions. The Arab League stated it was willing to send international observers into Syria, but it required an agreement from the regime to do so. Additionally, several embassies were attacked in Damascus by loyalists, including the embassies of Morocco and the UAE. Meanwhile, King Abdullah of Jordan suggested that Britain set up “an international ‘contact group’ to coordinate western and Arab policy towards the crisis in Syria.”