BEIRUT — A high-profile international mission to end the Syrian crisis stumbled Friday before it began as the opposition rejected calls by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan for dialogue with President Bashar Assad as pointless and out of touch after a year of violence.
The dispute exposes the widening gap between opposition leaders who say only military aid can stop Assad’s regime, and Western powers who fear more weapons will exacerbate the conflict.
As the prospects for diplomacy faltered, Turkey reported the defections of three high-ranking military officers — two generals and a colonel — as well as two sergeants. It was a significant development because until now, most army defectors have been low-level conscripts. A deputy oil minister also deserted Assad’s regime this week.
The White House welcomed the reported defections as a sign the regime is cracking from within and that Assad eventually will fall.
Western and Arab powers are backing Annan’s two-day trip to Syria, starting today, when he is to meet with Assad. The former U.N. secretary-general — now a special U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria — has said he seeks to start a “political process” to end the crisis and warned against further militarization of a conflict that appears headed toward civil war.
“I hope that no one is thinking very seriously of using force in this situation,” Annan said Thursday in Cairo. “I believe any further militarization would make the situation worse.” He said he would present “realistic” solutions but did not elaborate.
Opposition leaders and activists rejected Annan’s plans Friday. By phone from Paris, the head of the Syrian National Council said Annan was overlooking what the opposition considers the root of the problem: The regime’s use of overwhelming military force to crush dissent.
“Any political solution will not succeed if it is not accompanied by military pressure on the regime,” Burhan Ghalioun said. “As an international envoy, we hope (Annan) will have a mechanism for ending the violence.”
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Russia continues to oppose Security Council resolution on Syria• WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s hopes for a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an end to violence in Syria dimmed Friday as Russia continued to object to language it thinks is biased against Damascus, U.S. officials said.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for flexibility and would be speaking with him again at the United Nations on Monday — on the sidelines of a special Security Council session on the Arab Spring.
Clinton told reporters at the State Department that she would speak with Lavrov “about our hope that Russia will play a constructive role in ending the bloodshed and working toward a political transition in Syria.”
Other officials said there was no sign Russia was willing to back down and there was little chance of getting an agreement. Denver Post wire services
