Egypt condemns 'oppressive' Syria sparking walkout

Egypt's president has told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) that the Syrian uprising is a "revolution against an oppressive regime".

Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, said the movement had an "ethical duty" to support the uprising.
His comments prompted a walkout by the Syrian delegation, reports said.
The Nam summit, which represents 120 countries, will also discuss human rights and nuclear disarmament.
Mr Mursi used his speech to tell delegates: "Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty as it is a political and strategic necessity."

 
Syrian delegates walked out of the summit as Mr Mursi began speaking about Syria, reports said

Non-Aligned Movement

• Formed in 1961, originally an alliance of newly independent Afro-Asian states
• Currently 120 members, comprising nations ostensibly unaligned with the major world powers
• Aims to represent the political, economic and cultural interests of the developing world

"We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects the demands of the Syrian people for freedom."

"Egypt is ready to work with all to stop the bloodshed," he said.
His description of the uprising differs from Iran, which is one of the few remaining allies of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has been accused by the US of training militia in Syria to reinforce Mr Assad's forces.
The Syrian government says it is fighting to protect its people against terrorists and its delegation walked out as Mr Mursi began to speak about the conflict.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is at the summit, met Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday and urged them to "really reach out to the Syrian leadership and impress on them the really urgent need to stop the violence", his spokesman said.
But the website of Ayatollah Khamenei said the Supreme Leader told Mr Ban in their meeting that the solution to the crisis was halting the trafficking of weapons to Syrian rebel fighters.
He said it was "natural" for there to be weapons in the hands of the Syrian government, because it was conducting an official military like any other country.

 

Earlier, Mr Ban made frank remarks about Iran's human rights record during his visit

Mr Mursi's visit is the first by an Egyptian leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iran cut ties with President Anwar Sadat's administration over its signing of a peace treaty with Israel.
Mr Ban's acceptance of Tehran's invitation has been described by the US State Department as "strange".
But the South Korean has not shied from drawing attention to the Islamic Republic's human rights record.
In a press conference, seated next to the speaker of Iran's parliament and one of the country's most powerful politicians, he told reporters that he had "serious concerns" about human rights in Iran.
'Overt dictatorship' Nuclear disarmament is also on the agenda of the talks and in his speech to delegates on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei said that, contrary to the view held in the West, Iran "is never seeking nuclear weapons".
He said such weapons were "a major and unforgivable sin", but that Iran would "never give up the right to peaceful nuclear energy".
He said sanctions imposed on Iran because of its nuclear programme "not only do not and will not paralyse us, but have made our steps steadier and elevated our resolve and boosted our confidence in our assessments".
The ayatollah also criticised the "illogical" structure of the United Nations Security Council, saying it enabled the US to impose its "bullying manner" on the world, Reuters reports.
"The UN Security Council has an irrational, unjust and utterly undemocratic structure, and this is an overt dictatorship," he said, while denying that UN-imposed sanctions had had any effect on Iran.