In an interview with the satellite television network France 24 on Wednesday, the Iranian president expressed his ‘deep grief’ over the massacre of Syrian people in Houla and hoped the fact-finding committees would be able to find clues on the incident.
“Perpetrators of the crime should be identified and punished, but we have a main problem in the region that is foreign interference,” he said.
“Western governments seek to inflict damage on the [Syrian] government of President Bashar al-Assad,” Ahmadinejad stated.
He expressed Iran’s support for the Syrian people and urged the implementation of fundamental reforms in the Arab country.
But the [Syrian] people, themselves, need to perform the task without the interference of foreigners. We currently witness a blatant foreign interference in Syria, the Iranian chief executive pointed out.
On May 25, over 100 civilians were killed in a massacre in the western Syrian town of Houla.
Clashes have been reported between Syrian forces and armed groups despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 12.
The ceasefire is part of a six-point peace plan presented by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in March.
The plan, effective from mid-April, calls for the establishment of a cease-fire between the government and the opposition, allowing humanitarian groups to access the population, releasing detainees and starting a political dialogue.
While the West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing protesters, Damascus blames ”outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
SF/GHN/MA
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