Syria won't give up power to opposition in Geneva conference: FM

Source : Xinhua

DAMASCUS, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem said Monday that his government is "serious" about participation in the Geneva conference on Syria, stressing however that no power handover to the opposition will take place during the planned meeting.

"We will head to the (Geneva) conference seriously to reach a halt of violence and terrorism that we deem as a popular demand," al-Moallem said in a press conference Monday aired live by the state-TV.

"We are not going to hand over the authority to the other party and whoever thinks so, is delusional," the head of the Syrian diplomacy said.

He added that the Syrian government would take part in order to achieve a real partnership and to discuss the formation of a national unity government that would represent the Syrian people.

Meanwhile, the minister slammed a decision by the western powers to arm the rebels, branding the move as "dangerous" and " aiming to prolong the crisis and the chaos."

On Saturday, foreign ministers of members of the so-called Friends of Syria group met in Qatar's Doha on the latest developments in Syria, and agreed to further arm the Syrian opposition fighters.

In a joint statement, participants of the meeting agreed to " provide urgently all the necessary materiels and equipment" to the rebels fighting the Syrian army forces on ground.

The Doha meeting also resulted in "secret decisions" that were not made public. "Arming the rebels would hinder the Geneva conference and would kill more of our people and we will insist in Geneva on halting the violence and terrorism," the minister said, adding that "we are ready to discuss the mechanisms of curbing the violence and the armament and training of the armed rebels."

The minister stressed that his government wouldn't accept any foreign-imposed solutions and "will never even accept thoughts that are imposed from outside. The dialogue is between the Syrians themselves." "We have doubts about their West's intentions and see that they have placed snugs ahead of the Geneva conference after their armament decision," he said.

Responding to a question about the "secret decisions" of the Friends of Syria meeting, al- Moallem stressed that he had no idea what those secret decisions are but linked the decisions with the recent wave of violence that targeted the capital Damascus a day earlier and the military showdown in Lebanon's Sidon.

"What is going on in Sidon is very dangerous," the minister said, adding that the Syrian government has warned from the beginning that the extremists phenomena won't stop on the Syrian borders.