Syria on Monday rejected the new "road map" proposed late Sunday by the Foreign Ministers of the Arab League, calling for President Bashar al-Assad to delegate his powers to his Vice President. The plan also called on the Syrian regime to form a national unity government and to hold early parliamentary and presidential elections. "Syria rejects the decisions of the Ministerial Council of the Arab League (...) and considers it a violation of national sovereignty and blatant interference in its domestic policy," said the Syrian official news agency.
Meanwhile, Moscow and Damascus signed a contract for the delivery of 36 training aircraft and combat Yakovlev Iak-130, the Russian daily Kommersant reported Monday.
According to a source close to the Russian Agency on Arms Exports (Rosoboronexport), the value of the contract is worth approximately US$550 million (US15.3 million per unit). Rosoboronexport and Irkut Aerospace Group, which will build the planes, have refused to comment on the issue.
