Moscow: Exiled Syrian opposition figures urged Russia Tuesday to persuade Syria's President Bashar Al Assad to resign, warning that Moscow risked being left behind by history unless it withdrew its support for the leader.
Senior Russian officials, who have thwarted Western attempts to condemn Al Assad for crushing protests against his rule, held a meeting with some of Al Assad's most vociferous critics in Moscow.
The meeting was seen as a possible sign the Kremlin might be hedging its bets and trying to ensure its clout in the Middle Eastern country if Al Assad is toppled.
Russia's foreign ministry said the Syrian opposition representatives came at the invitation of a regional cooperation society and that no official meetings were planned.
Rights groups say 1,300 civilians have been killed during a three-month revolt against the Al Assad family's 41-year rule, partly inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.
Syrian authorities say more than 250 soldiers and police have died in clashes they say were provoked by militant groups.
"Russia should help Syria to reach freedom and democracy by putting more pressure on the Syrian President to resign," Mulham Al Droubi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, told journalists.
Special envoy
"The president should resign if he has any feeling for Syrian people," he said after talks with the Kremlin's special envoy for Mideast and Africa, Mikhail Margelov.
Russia has urged Al Assad to move faster on promised reforms, but has opposed Western efforts to condemn his crackdown in the UN Security Council and echoed his claims that extremists are to blame for some of the violence.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who most diplomats believe is Russia's paramount leader, tried to play down Moscow's ties with Syria last week, saying that Russia had no special relationship with Damascus.
US hails positive step
The United States said on Tuesday that Syria's move to allow activists to meet to discuss political change was a positive step but that the government needed to do more to launch real reforms.
"The fact that opposition members were allowed to meet in Syria for the first time in decades, as I understand it, is progress and is something that is new and is important for the democratic process in Syria that we all want to see," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
"We think this is a move in the right direction, but there is far more to be done. The violence needs to end throughout Syria and a broader public process needs to begin."
