Syria Opposition to Shun Interim Govt. until Assad Quits

The opposition Syrian National Council said on Thursday that it will not join any interim government until President Bashar Assad quits after diplomats said peace envoy Kofi Annan was pushing the idea.

"The opposition has not yet received the details of the Annan proposal and cannot reply to it," SNC spokesman George Sabra told Agence France Presse by telephone.

"But its firm position remains that the opposition would not participate in any political project unless Bashar Assad is removed from power."

Sabra said the opposition would discuss the details and objectives of Annan's proposal before taking an official position but stressed that the basic principle was shared by "all partisans of the Syrian opposition."

The opposition is to meet in Cairo on July 2 in a bid to "develop a common vision for the interim period and the future of Syria," Sabra said.

"We stand with our people in this great confrontation," he said, adding that it is the U.N. Security Council which must "assume responsibility for the continuing violence after the regime blocked all Arab and international plans calling for a solution."

"They (Western governments) must realize that people are being slaughtered every day," he added.