Syria calls on US to stop arming Syria militants

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister called on the United States and its allies to stop arming militants as the US congress secretly authorized sending more arms to the anti-government groups to continue their war. "Everybody is aware that when the United States took its decision to stop providing weapons to the terrorist groups, that decision came after it was very clear that all the weapons given by the United States to the so-called moderate armed groups had gone to the extremist terrorist groups," Faisal Muqdad said on Tuesday, Al-Alam reported. Reuters reported Tuesday that the US congress has secretly authorized sending arms to the militants in Syria, as the two sides of the Syrian conflict are trying to find a solution to end the war through the Geneva II peace conference underway in Switzerland. Muqdad said this was yet another proof that "the United States is not interested in the success of this process," referring to the Geneva II talks, which are aimed at finding a peaceful solution to Syria crisis. The Syrian official made the remarks in a news conference on the sidelines of the peace talks which started on January 22. The Geneva II talks have already hit a deadlock amid sharp differences between the two sides. The foreign-backed SNC is demanding the formation of a government without President Bashar al-Assad while Damascus has rejected the demand, saying it is not included in the communiqué issued after an earlier round of international talks in June 2012. The document has been announced as the basis of the ongoing talks. Syria sank into crisis in March 2011 when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of western and regional states. The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.