Russia rejects deadline for Annan plan

“Ultimatums and artificial deadlines rarely help matters,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

Lavrov also said that any restrictions on the Syrian government’s compliance with the peace plan must be set by the UN Security Council.

“Annan has a Security Council mandate and it is up to the UN Security Council to decide who is complying with this plan and how,” Lavrov said.

Annan’s six-point plan calls, inter alia, for an end to violence in Syria, a two-hour humanitarian ceasefire every day, media access to the troubled spots, and political dialogue between the government and the opposition.

Foreign ministers from about 70 Western and Arab countries attending the so-called “Friends of Syria” meeting in Istanbul on Sunday, agreed to ask the UN to give Assad a deadline to cooperate with Annan’s proposal.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 and many people, including security forces, have lost their lives in the violence.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. But Damascus blames ”outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, stating that it is being orchestrated from abroad.

PG/JR/HGH

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