Germany, Canada Call on Syria Rebels to Join Talks

Germany and Canada on Thursday called on the Syrian opposition to take part in a U.S.-Russian peace initiative after rebels said they would enter no talks until Hizbullah withdraws from the war.

"The best chance for a lasting solution to the conflict in Syria is a sustainable political process," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said during a visit to Canada.

"All sides in Syria and the whole international community should do what they can to support the beginning of such a political process," he told a joint press conference with his Canadian host, Foreign Minister John Baird.

"I urgently call on the national coalition of the Syrian opposition to fulfill its responsibility," Westerwelle said.

"The National Coalition of the opposition has the responsibility and an obligation to create a united front and to work and to participate constructively at the planned Syria conference," Westerwelle said.

The National Coalition had earlier said it would not take part in the Geneva 2 talks "so long as the militias of Iran and Hizbullah keep up their invasion," referring to their support for regime forces seeking to retake a key town.

The declaration at a meeting in Istanbul came as the rebels appealed for the rescue of 1,000 citizens wounded in Qusayr, a town that elite regime forces backed by fighters from the Hizbullah -- an Iran-supported group -- are battling to recapture from rebels.

Baird echoed Westerwelle's message, saying: "If there is to be a political solution obviously both sides have to be at the table."

Baird also repeated calls for a "political solution to end the suffering of the Syrian people."

Westerwelle said he did not know if Russia had begun supplying S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus -- as implied by Syrian President Bashar Assad in a recent interview -- but said "the whole discussion is something we really do not appreciate."

Assad suggested in an interview to be aired Thursday that Moscow had supplied Syria with the advanced missiles in a move aimed at deterring foreign intervention in the two-year-old conflict.

Moscow, the Assad regime's most powerful ally, announced this week it intends to honor its contract to supply Syria with the missiles.

The S-300s are capable of shooting down warplanes and guided missiles, and are similar to Patriots, which NATO has deployed on the Turkish border with war-torn Syria.

Westerwelle was to later travel to Washington to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry.