MOSCOW - The Syrian government said on
Tuesday military intervention in Syria was "impossible" because
it would lead to a confrontation beyond the country's borders.
Deputy Syrian Prime Minister Qadri Jamil, speaking at a news
conference in Moscow, appeared to be responding to President
Barack Obama's threat that U.S. forces could act if Syria
deployed chemical weapons against rebels.
Jamil said the West was looking for an excuse for military
intervention, likening the focus on Syria's chemical weapons
with Western policy towards Iraq, invaded by U.S.-led forces on
the grounds it was concealing weapons of mass destruction.
"The West is looking for an excuse for direct intervention.
If this excuse does not work, it will look for another excuse.
But it does not understand a new fact, confirmed in the
international situation after the Russian-Chinese veto which has
continued until this moment," he said.
He was referring to China and Russia's veto of Security
Council action that would have added to international pressure
on President Basher Assad, who is fighting to put down a
17-month old uprising against his rule.
"Direct military intervention in Syria is impossible because
whoever thinks about it ... is heading towards a confrontation
wider than Syria's borders," he said. "Regarding Obama's
threats, they are media threats to be used in the media campaign
in readiness for the coming elections."