Syria Protests Against Morsi Comments On Assad Regime

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday denounced the “oppressive Syrian regime which has lost its legitimacy,” during his opening speech at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran, Iran, a key ally of Syria. The speech sparked protests by the Syrian delegation, who stood up and left the room during the speech. According to Mohamed Morsi, “today there is a revolution against the tyrannical regime in Syria.” And he added: Only foreign “effective intervention” can help to end the bloodshed in Syria.

“The Palestinian and Syrian peoples want freedom, dignity and justice,” Mohamed Morsi told his crowd that included the leaders of Iran, Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Following Morsi’s remarks, the head of the Syrian delegation, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, accused the Egyptian leader of inciting to “continue the bloodshed in Syria.”

Meanwhile, Syrian rebels claimed to have shot down a fighter plane Thursday during an attack to seize a military airport in the region of Idleb.
“The plane was shot this morning by our men who used automatic weapons shortly after takeoff from the airport of Abu el-Zouhour (Idleb area). Both pilots ejected with a parachute and had been captured,” said Colonel Afif Suleiman Mahmoud, head of the rebel military council for the province of Idleb.

“This is the second time a MiG plane was shot down” by the rebels, said Colonel Suleiman, adding that the first aircraft had been hit recently in Boukamal area.

Thursday’s attack came a day after a similar operation against another military airport in Taftanaz, which also in the province of Idleb. During that operation, the insurgents said they bombed the site with artillery, destroying several helicopters.

“Taftanaz and Abu el-Zouhour are the two main airports in Idleb through which the regime sends these aircraft to bomb civilian houses and commit crimes that we can no longer endure, so we decided to attack, “said Colonel Suleiman. “We warn the regime in the coming days, it will face more attacks to force it to stop commit more massacres. We will retaliate on each massacre by quality operations,” said the rebel commander.