Russia Backs Idea of Anti-Islamist Alliance in Syria – Lavrov
MOSCOW, January 26 (RIA Novosti) – Official Moscow supports a proposed alliance between the Syrian regime and moderate opposition against the Islamists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Prominent Syrian Islamist groups such as the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant “have no place in negotiations,” Lavrov said on NTV television.
“Our goal is to facilitate some political agreement between the [Syrian] government and sane, secular, patriotic opposition and parallel to political reconciliation to help them unite to fight these terrorists,” Lavrov said in the interview, broadcasted Sunday.
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Assad’s government has called for an anti-Islamist alliance shortly after moderates in the opposition clashed with Muslim radicals on the ground earlier this month, leaving hundreds dead.
http://en.ria.ru/world/20140126/186933027/Russia-Backs-Idea-of-Anti-Islamist-Alliance-in-Syria--Lavrov.html