Russia warns of 'mutual destruction' in Syria

Aljazeera.com

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Russia has urged the warring sides in Syria to halt their almost two-year conflict and start talks, warning that both sides risk "mutual destruction.

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Russia warns of 'mutual destruction' in Syria

Foreign minister calls on government and rebels to start talks, as fighting continues to escalate. Last Modified: 20 Feb 2013 17:26 inShare5 Email Print Share Feedback

Rebels claim they fired mortar rounds at one of president Bashar al-Assad's palaces in Damascus [Reuters]

Russia has urged the warring sides in Syria to halt their almost two-year conflict and start talks, warning that both sides risk "mutual destruction." Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said on Wednesday that Moscow was working to encourage dialogue between the rebels and the regime of president Bashar al-Assad. "Neither side can allow itself to bet on a military settlement as this is a path to nowhere, a path to mutual destruction," he said, following a meeting Arab League chief Nabil el-Araby and other top Arab diplomats. Lavrov, who on Monday is due to host Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem for crucial talks, said: "There are signs of positive tendencies, signs of tendencies for dialogue both from the side of the government and the opposition." But he said it was up to the two sides to decide what kind of dialogue might take place and at what level. "It is important that they do not come out with any conditions for each other, and say that I am going to talk to this person but not that one," Lavrov said. Russia is also expecting a visit in March from opposition Syrian National Coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib, who has previously been unwilling to visit Moscow over its past support for the regime. "We are agreeing a date of a visit here by Mr Khatib, which will probably happen at the start of March," Lavrov said. He said the diplomacy was aimed at "creating the conditions for the start of direct dialogue" between the regime and opposition. Moscow still keeps close ties with Assad, and has so far refused to halt military cooperation with Damascus. Fighting in Damascus and Homs The fighting in Syria, which according to the UN has claimed 70,000 lives since the conflict began in March 2011, has escalated over the past few days as both sides press for a military advantage. Government fighter jets on Wednesday launched air strikes on the Damascus suburb of Daraya and intensified artillery bombardment in several towns around the capital, just a day after rebels claimed they fired mortar rounds at one of Assad's palaces in the heart of Damascus. Activists said air raids there kills at least 14 and caused heavy damage. They also said that rebels downed a warplane over the Hammuriyeh suburb of the capital. In the central city of Homs, rebels gained control of al-Qarabees neighbourhood after heavy clashes with regime forces in the area. Meanwhile, the Syrian government said that the airport in the battleground northern city of Aleppo was still under military control and "safe" from rebels fighting to capture it. Al-Watan, a newspaper considered a mouthpiece for Assad, said on Wednesday the military is "valiantly defending"' the airport and will do so at all cost. The paper says the airport is under "intensive attacks by gunmen," a rare acknowledgement of the ferocious fighting around Aleppo, Syria's second city. Assad's troops have been locked in a stalemate with the rebels since July, when Aleppo became a major battlefield in the nearly two-year conflict. The rebels have been trying to capture the airport for weeks. The UN on Tuesday warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in Syria, as an estimated four million people there are in need of assistance.

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Russia warns of 'mutual destruction' in Syria

I think that mutual destruction is presently inevitable in Syria because this war unfortunately is a "new Cold War" Proxy War. IT is being fought in Syria rather than becoming a nuclear confrontation between the U.S and Europe against Iran and possibly Russia. So, unfortunately the inevitable consequence is something like Somalia looked like during "Blackhawk Down" the movie when that took place in the 1990s. The Syrian Rebels will never put up with Assad staying on in ANY form and the Russians and the Iranians will not put up with him going "in any form". As a result you have the complete destruction of Syria.The only winner in this will be inevitably Al Qaeda which likely will run the mess in Syria like they have a lot of the time in Somalia as well.

The biggest beneficiary of this likely will be Israel and Al Qaeda which I find is really paradoxical from many points of view. Since Al Qaeda is the enemy of Hezbollah,  Israel wins because of this too as Assad and Syria have always been one of the worst thorns in their side.

Al Qaeda has always been a Sunni Muslim Terrorist organization and Hezbollah tends to be a Shia Muslim Terrorist organization. So they are fighting each other in Syria now every day. Al Qaeda is on the side of the Syrian Rebels who are Sunni and Hezbollah supports Assad and Iran in this conflict. So, the war between Al Qaeda and Hezbollah is just getting started from a timeline point of view.