Russia slams Syrian opposition over civilian airport attack threat

Moscow: Russia has strongly condemned the alleged threat by an armed Syrian opposition on attacking civilian airports in Syria, saying such actions were no different from terrorists.

Moscow was deeply concerned over the statement of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo were taken as "military targets" and civilian aircraft using them would be shot down, Xinhua quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying in a statement. "We believe these threats are unacceptable. They are a flagrant violation of international law, in particular the Chicago Convention of 1944 on international civil aviation," said the ministry. FSA has reportedly given 72 hours to civilian airliners to cease flights to these airports starting from Sep 1. Russia called on outside players who have influence on the "radical opposition" to prevent such threats from being carried out. Moscow has already contacted these countries via diplomatic channels, said the statement. IANS