Syrian National Coalition leader calls for militarily interventionFebruary 2, 2013 - 13:53 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - In an address to the 49th annual Munich Security Conference, the leader of the Syrian National Coalition, Moaz al-Khatib called on the international community to intervene militarily in Syria's two-year civil war, while he at the same time offered direct negotiations with Damascus in exchange for a prisoner release, Deutsche Welle reports. '"As a gesture of goodwill ... we are ready to sit at the negotiating table with the regime, but we don't want their hands to be full of blood," Khatib said through an interpreter at the conference in Munich. The Sunni preacher originally made the offer to negotiate with the Assad regime earlier this week, saying he would do whatever it took to ease the suffering of the Syrian people. But the apparent olive branch - a major break with the opposition's uncompromising campaign against Assad - caused uproar within the Syrian National Coalition. The umbrella opposition group subsequently said that Assad's departure from power was a precondition for a negotiated settlement. During his address, Khatib then called for the U.S. and other governments to provide the rebels with "some kind of electronic interference" to prevent regime warplanes from bombing the Syrian people. He then demanded a full-blown military intervention if such equipment failed to stop the air raids. "If that doesn't work, I would demand to destroy the planes and weapons of the Syrian regime, because it's just not acceptable for the international community to be a bystander just watching what's happening to the Syrian people." Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |