Assad 'committed' to end bloodshed: Russia

DAMASCUS: Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday after talks in Damascus that President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed in Syria even as regime tanks pounded the city of Homs for a fourth day.

Sergei Lavrov said he had had a "very useful" meeting with Assad and that Moscow was eager to work towards a solution based on Arab League peace proposals.

"We (Russia) confirmed our readiness to act for a rapid solution to the crisis based on the plan put forward by the Arab League," he said, adding Syria was ready to see an enlarged Arab League mission in the country, Russian news agencies reported.

The pan-Arab bloc deployed an observer mission to Syria in December to oversee a November plan to end bloodshed that has now lasted almost 11 months.

But the mission, widely criticised as ineffective, was suspended in late January after its chief said the violence had reached a new pitch of intensity despite its presence on the ground.

The 22-member League has since put forward a new plan for Assad to hand his powers to Vice President Faruq al-Shara and for the formation of a national unity government to oversee the preparation of democratic elections.

Shara, a veteran regime diplomat with a career that stretches back to the rule of Assad's late father president Hafez al-Assad, attended Tuesday's talks with Lavrov, the official SANA news agency said.

Lavrov did not specify which of the two Arab plans he was referring to in his comments Tuesday, although SANA quoted Assad as interpreting the reference to be to the earlier one.

"President Assad said that Syria from the start has welcomed any efforts toward a solution to the Syrian crisis and is committed to the Arab League plan that was decided on November 2, 2011," the news agency said.

After Tuesday's talks, Lavrov said he believed Damascus had heard Moscow's message. "We have every reason to believe that the signal that we've brought here to move along in a more active manner along all directions has been heard," he said.

Lavrov said Syria was pressing ahead with the reform programme Assad promised in speeches last year and would soon announce the timetable for a referendum on a new constitution to replace the current one that enshrines the dominance of his Baath party.

SANA said Assad would receive the text drawn up by an appointed panel on Wednesday.

Lavrov said Assad was also ready for dialogue with all parties.

"Today we've received confirmation of President Assad's readiness to facilitate this work," he said. (AFP)