Ribal Al-Assad welcomes statements by Russian and German Officials on the arming of Syrian rebels

Russian, German officials against arming Syrian rebels

Voice of Russia

MARCH 14, 2013

Russia is concerned with the intention of several Western countries to arm the Syrian opposition, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov says.

In his Twitter blog, Mr. Gatilov wrote that arming the Syrian rebels contradicts the same countries’ statements that they want stability in Syria.

Earlier, Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on European countries not to arm the Syrian opposition. Otherwise, there will be a threat that the conflict in Syria may spread to other countries, Mr. Westerwelle believes.

This was Mr. Westerwelle’s reaction to a statement of his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, who said on Thursday that if the EU does not lift the embargo on supplies of weapons to Syria, France and the UK will arm the Syrian opposition on a unilateral basis.

Responding to the statements, Director of ODFS, Ribal Al-Assad commented:

"I welcome the statements by Mr. Gatilov and Minister Westerwelle, the proliferation of arms in the region would only induce further instability. We need to work against violence not encourage it"