Continuation of unrest in Syria favors Israel: Syria FM

“Stopping violence is important, but they do not have a decision about that as long as the interests of Israel entail the continuation of violence," Syria’s official news agency SANA quoted Muallem as saying at a press conference in Damascus on Monday.
 
He also said Damascus is ready to participate in a peace conference in Geneva without any pre-conditions to help bring the bloodshed to an end in the country.
 
Syria’s top diplomat also described the current situation in the Lebanese city of Sidon as dangerous, saying what is happening in the city is the consequence of decisions made in the so-called Friends of Syria conference in Qatar.
 
The Syrian minister said Damascus has repeatedly urged Beirut to secure its borders.
 
At a conference in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday, foreign ministers of the countries supporting the militants fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to provide them with arms.
 
Top diplomats from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States attended the talks in Doha.
 
The top officials agreed to "provide urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground, each country in its own way in order to enable them to counter brutal attacks by the regime and its allies and protect the Syrian people."
 
Muallem added that the issue of arming insurgents is nothing new.
 
Syria has been gripped by a deadly unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government forces, have been killed in the violence.
 
Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.
 
The Syrian government says the West and its regional allies including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are supporting the militants.