Meanwhile, al-Thawra government newspaper said in an editorial that the participants were able to save time and shorten the distance between Paris and Geneva had they studied thoroughly the Syrian stand. "What concerns Syria doesn't work on the Swiss time as they think, but rather on the Syrian time... Tables of dialogue and discussions on Syria have no place in the capitals of the West. .. The gates of Damascus are open" for those who want to take part in the national dialogue.
Geneva hosted a day earlier the "International Conference for Syrian democratic and civil state" with the participation of the country's prominent National Coordination Body (NCB) in Diaspora and dignitaries from Arab and Western countries. Its stark title was the rejection of foreign intervention in Syria.
Observers and participants at the conference claimed that pressures have been practiced by France to disrupt the meeting and that around 60 personalities have denied access to Switzerland.
Haitham Manna, a prominent Syrian opposition figure and head of the NCB abroad, claimed that more than 60 personalities didn't take part because the Swiss authorities hadn't granted them visas under pressures from France.
Simultaneously, France hosted another opposition meeting that aimed to support the new umbrella Syrian National Coalition. During the meeting, which was attended by the three Syrian National Coalition vice-presidents, France appealed on countries to keep their promises of funding and submitting other aid to the Syrian opposition.
"We all want Syria to free itself and we want to avoid what we call chaos. If we don't give the means to the Syrian people to go achieve their freedom, there is a risk and we all know it exists, that massacres and antagonisms amplify, and that extremism and terrorism prevail," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday, as he addressed representatives of some 50 nations that France is trying to coax into action on promises.
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