Iran Blames Massacre in Hama on Supporters of Terrorists
News number: 9103081338 16:30 | 2012-06-08
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9103081338

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian foreign ministry official took supporters of
armed rebels and terrorist groups in Syria responsible for the killing of
innocent civilians in a village in the Syrian province of Hama.

Speaking on Thursday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African
Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that the responsibility of massacre in
Hama lies with those parties who claim to be defending the Syrian people but
are in practice supporting the terrorists in this country.

"Supporting the terrorists in Syria is a failed measure, at odds with the
rights of the Syrian people and a threat to the regional and global peace
and security," Amir Abdollahian said.

He further called for support for President Bashar al-Assad reform plan.

Syria has rejected a report by the opposition Syrian National Council that
alleges security forces killed 100 people in the west-central province of
Hama.

"What a few media have reported on what happened in al-Qubeir, in the Hama
region, is completely false," the Syrian government said in a televised
statement on Thursday.

The statement was issued after the opposition Syrian National Council
claimed that forces loyal to President Assad "massacred" about 100 people,
including 20 women and 20 children, in the village of al-Qubeir on
Wednesday.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks
by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being
reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been
killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the
deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President
Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its
Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any
possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been
staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported that the Syrian rebels and terrorist
groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received
significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by
the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials,
reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration
has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian
Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control
infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib
near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who two months ago said the rebels were running out of
ammunition said earlier this month that the flow of weapons - most bought on
the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian
military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars
in funding each month.