The head of a Syrian leading opposition political group arrives in
China for talks Sunday amid violence in the Middle East nation despite a
cease-fire implemented last month.
Burhan Ghalioun,
president of the Syrian National Council, will meet foreign ministry
officials during the visit ending Wednesday, China's state-run Xinhua
news agency reported.
Despite the visit, China has not changed its stance on Syria, a foreign ministry official said.
China and Russia derailed
a U.N. Security Council resolution this year demanding an end to
attacks on peaceful protesters in Syria, a position that sparked
international outrage.
China has said it does not support forced regime change and called on Syrians to decide their own fate.
The country ranked as Syria's third-largest importer in 2010, according to data from the European Commission.
The
visit follows days of violence, including an explosion near Syria's
largest city of Aleppo that killed at least five people Saturday,
opposition activists said.
The blast occurred as
security forces drove by in a bus, but it was unclear whether the
fatalities were soldiers or civilians, according to the Britain-based
opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It also reported
separate blasts in the capital of Damascus.
Aleppo, a bastion of
support for President Bashar al-Assad, has been largely spared in
Syria's 14 months of bloody uprising. Recent protests there could signal
a significant shift.
"The regime is very
worried," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert who is a fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Their actions in the last
few days demonstrate that."
At least 25 people were killed across the nation Saturday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
CNN cannot independently
verify reports of violence and deaths within Syria because the
government has restricted access by most of the international media.
Syria's anti-regime
protests started peacefully in March of last year, but a government
crackdown spawned violence that has left thousands dead and prompted
some military defectors to take up arms against the regime forces. The
government has blamed the violence on "armed terrorists."
Attacks and clashes
violate a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan,
escalating doubts on whether the 14-month uprising can be resolved.
A cease-fire went into effect April 12 as part of a six-point peace plan negotiated by Annan.
The plan includes the
government allowing humanitarian groups access to the population,
releasing detainees, starting a political dialogue and withdrawing
troops from city centers.
The United Nations
estimates that at least 9,000 people have died in the conflict but that
estimate is old and believed low by opposition groups.
Source: CNN News