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18:02 GMT
DAMASCUS, Dec 31 (KUNA) -- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
Tuesday more than 130,000 people were killed since the conflict began in the
troubled Arab country in March 2011.
The crisis in Syria have spelled over to regional countries with hundreds
of thousands of Syrian people seeking refuge in neighboring countries -
Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
The Observatory said in a statement 130,433 civilians and military forces
from the government and opposition were killed in the conflict. This does not
include more than 17,600 missing people from both camps.
It urged international organizations, including the UN, to live up to their
moral obligations to press for referring the Syrian crisis file to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to punish the killers of the
Syrian people and those collaborating with them.
Meanwhile, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Halqi said his government was
preparing for the Geneva II conference, due in Switzerland on January 22.
Addressing the People's Council, or parliament, Halqi said Syria was
complying with its obligations vis-a-vis the Organization of the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
He was quoted by the official TV as saying the future of Syria was in the
hands of the Syrian people without foreign interference.
Halqi said political coordination with Russia and Iran would help Syria
achieve its diplomatic objectives.
"We are open for all issues to be discussed on the table of dialogue (in
Geneva) but will not take any decision contravening with the ambitions of the
Syrian people," he said.
The Syrian opposition wants the Geneva II to be a channel for a power
transition in which President Bashar Al-Assad has no role. The regime in
Damascus refuses this demand and says the conference aims at reaching a united
positions against terrorism. (end)
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