Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday warned against foreign intervention in Syria, calling on the Syrian opposition not to seek a repeat of the "Libya scenario". Lavrov's comments, on a visit to the central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, underlined growing Russian concern that Western powers have overstepped the mark in Libya and the situation in Syria may also spill out of control.
"We are very worried that the process of reconciliation, the process of the start of dialogue -- all healthy forces in Syria including the Syrian leadership are in favour of that -- is being slowed down by a desire of some participants to attract foreign forces to support their actions," Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.
He warned against a repeat of the "Libya scenario", where a Western coalition is carrying out air strikes against regime targets in a campaign that is increasingly troubling Moscow.
"The betting is that outside players will appreciate the problem and will not only discuss but also subsequently repeat the Libyan situation, for example, interfere using methods of force among other things," Lavrov said.
"It is a great pity that the Libyan situation has created a huge temptation for many opposition members in that region to create a similar situation and expect that the West will not stand aside but will be interfering in the conflict in favour of one of the sides." (read more)
