Shara Says 'Mistake' to Keep Iran Out of Syria Peace Bid
Vice President Farouq al-Shara said it would be a "mistake" to keep Iran out of international efforts to end the Syrian crisis, al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday.
"Some countries' refusal to engage with Iran on efforts to settle Syria's crisis on the pretext that Iran is part of the problem is a clear political mistake," it quoted Shara as saying.
He likened such an omission to "keeping the United States out of any political effort to peacefully resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict."
Shara made his first public appearance on Sunday since rumors circulated that he had tried to defect to the opposition and he was being held under house arrest.
President Bashar Assad's regime has been rattled by several high-profile defections as the Syrian conflict has escalated, including former Prime Minister Riad Hijab and prominent General Manaf Tlass, one of Assad's childhood friends.
Shara, the most powerful Sunni Muslim figure in Assad's regime, also called on "all sides (in Syria) to stop the violence," al-Watan said.
The 73-year-old described former international envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan and an agreement reached by world powers in Geneva in early July as the basis for a settlement.
Shara said Western members of the U.N. Security Council should help build on the two plans in order to "help the Syrian government and the opposition to engage in a national dialogue."
The United States strongly opposes any Iranian role in resolving the conflict in its ally Syria, in contrast to Annan and Russia which have said Tehran could play a constructive role.
Source: Agence France Presse
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