(MENAFN- Arab Times) Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League Ambassador Ahmad Ben Helli announced Monday that Arab foreign ministers will meet Wednesday to discuss the initiatives for peaceful resolution to the conflict. The meeting, to be attended by United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, will discuss the latest development in the conflict. Moreover, the Arab League on Wednesday will host its 144th session of permanent delegates to be presided by the United Arab Emirates, Ben Helli added.
The Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League also revealed that the upcoming session will address 27 issues on the agenda, primarily the Palestinian conflict and the crisis in Yemen. Others issues to be discussed include the situation in Libya and the latest developments in the Arab League itself. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday denounced as "falsifications and fabrications" media reports it was changing its stance on the war in Syria or on the future of President Bashar al-Assad, whom it has shielded throughout the conflict. "We don't appoint or dismiss foreign presidents, neither on our own or in cahoots with anyone else," the ministry said in a statement.
Ministry representatives on Monday also declined immediate comment on a US request to Athens to close Greek airspace for Russian supply flights to Syria. Nor have Russian officials confirmed recent media reports of Moscow increasing its military assistance to Assad, saying only that it has long been supplying Damascus with arms and training to help it fight Islamist radicals, and will continue to do so.
Moscow on Monday dismissed US concern of a Russian military buildup in Syria, saying its military aid to Bashar al- Assad was nothing out of the ordinary. Over the weekend US Secretary of State John Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to express concern about reports of an "enhanced Russian buildup" in Syria. "The Russian side has never concealed the fact that it is sending military equipment to the Syrian authorities to help them fight terrorism," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told AFP, commenting on the Kerry- Lavrov phone talks. "Lavrov confirmed that such aid has always been provided and is being provided."
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister on Monday criticized demands for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying such calls have prolonged the Arab country's civil war. Mohammad Javad Zarif went so far as to say that those who have in the past years demanded Assad's ouster "are responsible for the bloodshed in Syria."
The top Iranian diplomat did not name any specific country in the region but was likely referring to Turkey's and Saudi Arabia's repeated calls for Assad to step down. The two Sunni Muslim countries have supported rebels fighting against Assad. Also Monday, French President Francois Hollande, in announcing that France will send reconnaissance flights over Syria beginning Tuesday and is considering airstrikes in the fight against the Islamic State group, said that resolving Syria's war will only happen if Assad leaves power. Kurdish authorities in northern Syria are arbitrarily detaining critics and alleged Islamic State group sympathisers and denying prisoners fair trials, rights group Amnesty International said on Monday.
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