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Russia to side with Syria

Warns Putin after G20 failure; Obama courts Congress as Kerry secures EU support

Agencies
President Vladimir Putin promised to "help" Syria regime in the event of any US strike as President Barack Obama yesterday urged Congress to back military action after the cold war foes failed to narrow their differences at G20 summit over the Syrian civil war.
Obama and his Russian counterpart could not even agree on the factual point of whether a majority of G20 members supported or opposed m ilitary action.
Obama said that most of the 19 countries represented at St Petersburg had backed the US position - and 11 duly signed a statement urging a "strong international response" to the poison gas attacks in Damascus.
But Putin disputed this. Ending the summit, Putin said that world opinion was firmly against US-led intervention, adding that Russia would take Syria's side. "Will we help Syria? We will," he said. "We are already helping, we send arms."
"Using force against a sovereign
state can only be done in self defence, and Syria is not attacking the United States," he said.
Russia has been Syria's biggest arms supplier, signing a contract to deliver the S300 air defence system. Some components of this advanced defensive shield are understood to have been delivered, although whether Russia has supplied everything is unclear.
In recent weeks, the Russian navy has also sent three warships to the
FROM PAGE 16 eastern Mediterranean, near the Syrian coast, where it maintains a base at the port of Tartous. Russian reports suggest that a fourth vessel, carrying a "special cargo", is now heading to the area.
When a journalist suggested that the G20 was evenly split over military action, Putin replied: "You said views divided 50-50, that is not quite right". He listed only the US, Turkey, Canada, Saudi Arabia and France as countries supporting an intervention.
China, India, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Italy were all "against military action," he said. Even in countries where the government happened to support action, "the majority of the population is on our side," added Putin.
Meanwhile, European Union nations called for a "strong" response on Syria yesterday but stopped short of endorsing military action, as US President Barack Obama warned of the dangers of turning "a blind eye" to chemical attacks.
Fresh from a G20 summit in Saint Petersburg where he failed to win over world leaders to his cause, Obama urged Congress to authorise an intervention over President Bashar al-Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria,"
Obama said in his weekly address.
"That's why I call on members of Congress, from both parties, to come together and stand up for the kind of world we want to live in."
Congress reconvenes on Monday and Obama is set to address the nation Tuesday about a possible US response to the August 21 attack that left hundreds dead on the outskirts of Damascus.
Faced with a war-weary US public and little international support, Obama is bracing for an uphill battle to convince American lawmakers to back military action against Assad's regime.
According to a Washington Post survey, 224 of the current 433 House members were either "no" or "leaning no" on military action as of Friday. A large number, 184, were undecided, with just 25 backing a strike.
The Senate and the House are expected to vote on the issue within the next two weeks.
Washington meanwhile sought to muster support from its divided allies in Europe, with US Secretary of State John Kerry holding protracted talks with the EU's 28 foreign ministers in the Lithuanian capital before leaving for France, after which he will visit Britain.
Split between Paris and London, who are hardline
supporters of US-led military action, and smaller nations reluctant to act without a UN mandate and fearful of "day-after" consequences of an attack, the EU ministers managed to hammer out a compromise in Vilnius.
A statement read out by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton dubbed last month's suspected chemical weapons attack "a war crime and a crime against humanity".
In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council urged the international community to intervene immediately to "rescue" the Syrian people from "oppression."
Meanwhile, Catholics worldwide held a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria joined by Jews, Muslims and Orthodox Christians, with Pope Francis set to host a mass vigil-
The Vatican has warned military strikes could escalate the conflict and cause it to spill over into the region.
In France, the sole EU nation determined to join a US-led strike, the latest public opinion poll showed 68 percent of people opposed to military action, an increase of nine percentage points since late August.
Germany also announced it has signed on to a global statement, separate from the EU one, calling for "a strong response" to the alleged chemical weapons attack.