BEIRUT: Mount Lebanon Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Ali Jouzou criticized Russia Friday over its handling of the Syria crisis, saying it was bartering with the blood of Syrians for concessions with the West, and warned that Damascus was heading to a civil war.
“It [Russia] is bartering with the blood of Syrians for concessions with America and the West in order to secure political interests while ignoring the humanitarian dimensions of this issue,” Jouzou said during his Friday sermon.
“The Russians are not helping the Assad regime but taking advantage of it for their own interests,” he said, adding that Russia “had never been friends to the Arabs and never respected its pledges and friendships.”
Jouzou described as "suspicious" Russia’s position on the Syria crisis and said it allowed Syrian authorities more time to commit “mass killing and genocide which will certainly lead to dragging the Syrian people to a civil war, and Russia will lose its reputation, respect and interests with the Arabs and the Syrian people in particular.”
“[President Bashar Assad] wants to drag the country to a sectarian war to protect his [position] at any cost,” he added.
“The right to veto that some of the big powers are using at the Security Council was never once used for the sake of human rights and justice,” Jouzou said, adding that the veto had been used instead to serve the interest of these countries and particularly Israel, “which is the country that has benefited the most from American vetoes.”