Syria hails stance by Russia, China

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BEIJING, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A political adviser to the Syrian president said in Beijing she welcomed the non-colonial ambitions of the Russian and Chinese governments.

Bouthaina Shaaban, Syrian President Bashar Assad's media and political adviser, told China Daily the Middle East can't withstand another situation like last year's conflict in Libya.

"We're happy to see countries like China and Russia, who are not colonizers or deal with people as colonizers," she said.

The U.S. and British governments have supported anti-government elements in Syria with non-lethal assistance.

"One of our main lines of efforts with the nonlethal assistance has been to try to provide the kind of equipment and support to the Syrian opposition to help them communicate with each other," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Shaaban, however, accused Western powers of "supporting with arms and money people who are inciting the civil war in Syria."

China and Russia have objected to various draft resolutions at the U.N. Security Council censuring the regime in Damascus for the ongoing bloodshed. A U.N. report this week said both sides to the conflict have committed war crimes, though pro-government atrocities were more severe than those allegedly carried out by Syrian rebels.

A State Department official met in Beijing this week with Chinese authorities for what Washington said was an inaugural round of inaugural talks on Middle East issues. Washington said both sides paid "particular attention to Iran and Syria."