Syria media slams "Friends of Syria" meeting as deformed

Official Syrian media launched on Monday a scathing criticism on the "Friends of Syria" conference held a day earlier in Turkey's Istanbul, describing it as deformed and an attempt to "bury the mission of Arab League (AL)-UN joint envoy Kofi Annan." Al-Thawra daily said the conference was an attempt to " circumvent political solution and to bury Annan's mission." Al-Baath newspaper said in an editorial titled "a new failure" that the conference had turned into a "platform for aggressive and provocative statements against Syria that encourage more bloodshed. " It said the conference was an attempt to "blow up and derail" Annan's mission, adding "it was normal for this deformed conference to fail ... as the participants would be obliged sooner or later to acknowledge that the steadfastness of the Syrians throughout the past months and their gathering around their leadership ... have enable Syria to go beyond the crisis, fall all bets and win the battle." Tishrin daily said the conference has consolidated the presence of a regional and international orientation that runs counter to the content of Annan's initiative. "There is an orientation towards a field and political escalation ... to slam doors before any political solution to the crisis." it said, adding that this stance has raised a question about Annan's position towards these practices and policies that impede the success of his mission. Tishrin also criticized some countries' decision to arm and submit financial aids to the Syrian opposition, saying "this demonstrate the size of foreign involvement in fueling events in Syria." On Sunday, representatives from more than 80 countries voiced support for the Syrian opposition as they met in the Turkish city of Istanbul, seeking to mount international pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to stop the year-long violence and agree on a peaceful political transition. The meeting agreed to recognize the opposition broad-based Syrian National Council (SNC) as a legitimate representative of all Syrians and an umbrella organization for Syrian opposition groups. The conference also vowed to render all possible assistance, both technical advice and direct support, to a Syria-led political process that is peaceful, orderly and stable. It also agreed to continue and increase, as a matter of urgency, its assistance, including funding and financial support, to meet the needs of the Syrian people. Washington will offer another 12 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid for Syria's embattled population, and will also provide communication equipment to help the opposition forces evade government attacks. Earlier, UN-AL joint envoy on Syria Kofi Annan garnered support for his plan from almost all world leaders, which calls for an end to violence by all parties, a proposal for a cease-fire initiated by the Syrian government, a daily halt in fighting for the delivery of humanitarian aid and treatment for the wounded, as well as talks between the government and opposition. Syria has officially approved the plan but denied to pull troops from restive cities until peace and stability are restored in these areas. The Syrian government blames the year-long crisis on armed groups working out a foreign conspiracy. Syria's ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jae'farri said Saturday that more than 6,000 Syrians were killed by gunshots of armed groups which, he said, have also kidnapped more than 1,500 others since the start of unrest in Syria in mid March 2011. He added that the deaths include 204 women and 56 children, 478 policemen, 2,088 army personnel and security agents. The United Nations said last week the number of people killed since the unrest began in March last year has exceeded 9,000.