Russian foreign minister, Arab League chief meet over Syria unrest

    Referring to a Russian-backed plan world powers agreed upon back in June, Lavrov on Sunday stressed the need to "convince the Syrian parties to cease fire and sit down for negotiations in accordance with the Geneva agreement.”


The participants of the Geneva meeting agreed that the transitional governing body in Syria “could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent.”

Following the meeting Arabi also told a joint press conference, "We discussed the situation in Syria... reviewing what has been done so far and if there is any way to move forward…”

"… Both parties discussed the importance of moving forward. There are various ideas but nothing definite," he added.

According to Russia's Foreign Ministry, Lavrov is also scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr about Syria, although it is not clear when they will meet.

On Friday, Russia slammed the US call for an overhaul of the Syrian opposition, accusing Washington of trying to resolve the crisis on its own terms.

“We heard direct orders (from the United States) about what the Syrian opposition should do to form a ‘government in exile’, and about who should join such a government,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On October 31, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Syrian National Council “can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition” and a new opposition should be formed.

Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.