Russia slams Saudi Arabia, Qatar for funding Syrian rebels

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“We hear Saudi Arabia and Qatar openly speaking about theirfinancing of the armed opposition and supplying weapons to the armed opposition… So, we do not like that,” Churkin said on Thursday. 

Churkin also voiced concern regarding the latest massacre in Syria’s Hama Province in which tens of “people on the side of the [Syrian] government were killed by opposition.” 

The Russian ambassador then expressed opposition to the US and its allies for attempting to sideline Iran, adding that Tehran should be included in efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis in Syria. 

This is while joint UN-Arab League envoy to Damascus KofiAnnan has highlighted the role of Iran in helping to end the crisis. He also warned against foreign intervention in Syria, saying such a move would only intensify the violence. 

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also urged the opposition to stop killing Syrian civilians. 

About two weeks ago, 108 people were killed in a massacre in the town of Houla, in the volatile central province of Homs. 

A Syrian government investigation into the massacre states that anti-Damascus armed groups were responsible for the massacre. 

The head of the inquiry, Brigadier General Qassem Jamal Suleiman said that between 600 and 800 armed terrorists used heavy machinery to carry out the attacks. 

The Syrian president has also described the Houla massacre as an “ugly crime.” 

Also on Wednesday in the central village of al-Qubeir in the Hama Province, a second massacre took place. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has put the civilian death toll at about 55, down from the foreign-based Syrian National Council’s claims of 100 dead. 

Syria has rejected a report by the opposition council that alleges security forces killed dozens of people in 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. 

Hundreds of people, including many members of the Syrian security forces, have been killed in the unrest that began in Syria in March 2011. Damascus says foreign-sponsored “saboteurs and terrorists” are responsible for the killings. 

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