NATO head urges Syria political solution, rules out intervention

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

NATO head urges Syria political solution, rules out intervention

By Gabriela Baczynska
MOSCOW | Wed Mar 27, 2013 9:39am EDT

(Reuters) - NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for a political solution to the Syrian crisis on Wednesday, ruling out Western military intervention despite a plea for U.S. protection by a foe of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib said on Tuesday he had asked U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for American forces to help defend rebel-controlled northern parts of Syria with Patriot surface-to-air missiles now based in Turkey.

But NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen stuck firmly to his insistence that the 28-nation alliance would not play a military role in the two-year-old Syrian conflict, which has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives.

"We don't have any intention to intervene militarily in Syria," he said, speaking to Russian students in Moscow via a video link from Brussels.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/27/us-syria-crisis-nato-idUSBRE92Q0JL20130327

[TwilightGardener]

1. Both sides are in deep doo-doo, Assad was asking for help too this week. They need to

call a truce and work something out.