Regional pressure mounted on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Thursday as the newly elected leader of Egypt described the Damascus government as “oppressive” and called for it to transfer power to a democratic system.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi told a summit of non-aligned nations in Tehran, one of Mr. Assad's few remaining allies, that “the bloodshed in Syria is [a] responsibility on all our shoulders.”
He said the world had a “moral duty” to stand with Syria's people in their struggle “against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy” and that the bloodshed would only end with “effective interference” from outside.
Mr. Morsi, generally seen as a moderate Islamist, described the Syrian conflict as a continuation of the wave of revolutionary activity sweeping the region.
His comments contrasted from the narrative given by Tehran and Damascus that the uprising is separate from the Arab Spring, and consists largely of foreign-backed “terrorists” acting on behalf of the United States and regional countries.
The Egyptian leader's Sunni Muslim Brotherhood backers, Egypt's most powerful political group since the revolt, are opposed to Shi'ite Iran's staunch backing of the Syrian government and its lethal crackdown on largely Sunni protesters.
The Syrian delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement summit walked out in protest during Mr. Morsi's speech.
Later Thursday, the U.N. Security Council will meet to discuss Syria's humanitarian crisis.
With the country spiraling deeper into warfare, the 15-member council is deadlocked over taking strong action after Russia and China blocked three Western-backed resolutions that criticized Mr. Assad and threatened sanctions.
But fewer than half the council members are sending ministers to Thursday's meeting. Of the body's permanent members – the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France – only French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his British counterpart, William Hague, will attend.
Turkey has floated the idea of creating buffer zones within Syria to receive those displaced by the conflict so they do not flood across the borders into neighboring countries.
Mr. Assad, however, dismissed the idea in an interview Wednesday with Syria's privately-owned Addounia television.
