Arab League chief Nabil Al-Arabi (left), greets Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Wednesday. — AP CAIRO — In his first major foreign policy speech, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi Wednesday called on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime to step down and warning Iran against interfering in Arab affairs. He also added that a resolution of the crisis was an Arab responsibility. “I tell the Syrian regime ‘there is still a chance to end the bloodshed'. Now is the time for change... no time to be wasted talking about reform," Morsi told a meeting of Arab foreign ministers here. “Don't take the right step at the wrong time... because that would be the wrong step," he said. He urged President Bashar Al-Assad to “take lessons from recent history" and step aside, in reference to Arab Spring revolts that overthrew the longtime regimes of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. “The Syrian people have made their voice clear," Morsi said, and, in a message to the Assad regime, insisted: “You will not be around for long." He told the ministers a resolution of the crisis is the responsibility of Arabs. “The Syrian blood that is being shed day and night, we are responsible for this," Morsi said. “We cannot sleep while Syrian blood is being shed." Mounting international pressure on President Al-Assad, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “the regime has become one of state terrorism." “Syria is going through a huge humanitarian saga. Unfortunately, as usual, the international community is merely watching the slaughter, massacre and the elimination of Muslims." Turkey is host to Syrian opposition groups as well as some 80,000 refugees. The regime's crackdown has led to worldwide condemnation and sanctions, weakened the economy and left Assad an international pariah just as he was trying to open up his country and modernize the economy. His few remaining allies include Iran, Russia and China. Despite the condemnation, Syria appears poised for an increasingly drawn-out conflict. Neither the regime nor the rebels has gained a significant advantage in the crisis, which began nearly 18 months ago with largely peaceful protests but has since morphed into a civil war that activists say has killed at least 23,000 people. As the conflict has grown increasingly militarized, it has also grown more deadly. On Wednesday, Syrian rebels said they shot down a government MiG jet and a helicopter. A video posted online showed the wreckage of a jet and the body of a pilot. Rebels also announced plans to reform and stem the proliferation of militias, as they came under artillery and aerial attack on multiple fronts. Forces loyal to the embattled president again trained their heavy weapons on second city Aleppo, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people, including seven children, were killed Wednesday. The observatory said fighter jets bombed zones controlled by the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the northern city while ground troops simultaneously unleashed a barrage of shells. Gen. Mustafa Al-Sheikh, head of the military council grouping rebel chiefs, said the FSA would soon adopt changes aimed at overcoming divisions and addressing the growing number of militias fighting on its behalf. — Agencies
