Worldwide opposition to US military strike on Syria growing

Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi underlined worldwide opposition to a possible US military strike on Syria. “Britain, Italy, Germany and Canada have clearly voiced their opposition to war, even the Pope has called on Syria’s Christians to fast for one day to demand God for the return of peace to Syria, all in all showing that the global attitude does not favor the US (view on Syria),” Boroujerdi said in Tehran on Wednesday upon his return from a bi-nation tour of Syria and Lebanon. Boroujerdi said that his recent regional tour was aimed at showing Iran’s opposition to any possible foreign-led attack on Syria. He underlined that if a war breaks out in the region neither the US nor Israel will be able to control the situation, specially considering that Israel’s atomic centers and petrochemical plants are close to the potential battlefield. “We hope that this wrong decision (for attacking Syria) will not be adopted,” Boroujerdi said. Worldwide opposition is growing to US planned attack on Syria which the Barack Obama administration rushed for based on an alleged chemical attack that its dimensions remain doubtful for the international community. On Wednesday, Egyptian political parties and groups voiced their strong opposition to a possible US military strike on Syria, calling it a dangerous plot against the Arab country. Egypt’s political parties underlined that their country is against hegemony and war and called on Arab governments to show a clear stance in defense of unity and stability in Syria, the Cairo-based Al-Jomhuria newspaper reported today. Secretary-General of Egypt’s Al-Dastour Political Party Seyed Qassem al-Masri said a dangerous plot against the Syrian nation and Arab Ummah, specially the Arab countries surrounding Israel, has been hatched. Also on Wednesday, Pope Francis urged Catholics and non-Catholics alike to participate in his planned day of fasting and prayer for peace Saturday, urging more than 50,000 people gathered for his weekly general audience, "Let the cry for peace rise up across the Earth!" The Vatican has invited ambassadors accredited to the Holy See to attend a briefing Thursday on the Pope’s agenda for the four-hour vigil Saturday night, and bishops’ conferences from around the world have announced plans to host local versions of the vigil as well. In recent speeches, tweets and remarks, Francis has called for a negotiated settlement in Syria but has also condemned the use of chemical weapons. Tensions rose higher in the region after US rushed to dispatch its warships toward Syria, threatening to bomb several areas in the country, based on conflicting reports of an alleged chemical attack in the country. The US-backed militants posted pictures and videos of an alleged chemical attack two weeks ago which they claimed the Syrian army was responsible for. The Syrian government, which had already called for UN action against several cases of chemical attacks by anti-Syria militants in the country, rejected the claims as baseless and paved the way for a visiting UN team of inspectors to investigate the story. Syria says the attack was actually carried out by the foreign-backed militants to open way for their western and regional supporters to attack Syria. Despite the killing of at least 100,000 people in the massive insurgency in Syria, the US is intent on joining the conflict.