Moscow, July 25 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia Wednesday accused Western powers of encouraging terrorism over their refusal to condemn the suicide bombing that killed Syria's defence minister last week.
"In other words, they are saying: 'We will continue to support such terrorist acts until the UN Security Council does what we want it to'," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "This is a chilling position."
Four top Syrian security officials, including Defence Minister Dawoud Rajha, were killed when a suicide bomber managed to infiltrate the government building where they were meeting in the capital Damascus July 18.
US envoy to the UN Susan Rice said after the bombing that the attack was further proof of the necessity to adopt a Security Council resolution against the regime of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian rights activists say around 16,000 have been killed since the start of the uprising against Assad in March 2011.
Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed UN resolution on Syria July 19 over fears that it would lead to foreign military intervention in the Middle East country, a stance that Rice called "paranoid if not disingenuous".
This was the third time that Russia and China had vetoed a UN resolution on Syria. Russia says it has no special interest in seeing Assad remain in power, but that the Syrian people should decide his fate.
--IANS/RIA Novosti
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