MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) - It is unacceptable to let Syria be turned into a permanent base of Islamic extremists, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.
"It is of principle importance that Syria remains a united state, from the territory of which the threats of terrorist attacks and proliferation of weapons of mass destructions do not come," Patrushev said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper to be published on December 27.
"It is as important not to allow Syria to be turned into a permanent base of al-Qaeda and other extremist organizations," Patrushev said.
"The way to resolve this task is for calling a new international conference on Syria as quickly as possible and constructive participation of all parties in this process," Patrushev was quoted as saying. Namely at this the UN Security Council Resolution 2118 is aimed, he said.
"However, going forward will not be easy. Calling the conference within the timeline scheduled initially failed [the conference on Syria has been postponed for a long time and then was scheduled for January 22, 2014]. A lot depends on how much the United States and a number of other countries want and be able to consolidate the opposition and set it for holding this international forum," the newspaper quoted Patrushev as saying.