Syria calls civil war in country 'war against terror'

Syrian Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal has reiterated that the violence in Syria is actually part of a larger war against terrorism, not a civil war.

Faisal took the stage at the United Nations and hit out at the U.S., Europe and regional countries helping the opposition spread what he called 'sedition and turmoil'.

According to the Wall Street Journal, he accused the rebels' backers of supplying their clients with chemical weapons.

He dismissed as a 'bad joke' the argument of Western and some regional governments that they channel support only to moderate rebels in Syria led by the Syrian Opposition Coalition and its Free Syrian Army.

He said that terrorism means only terrorism; it cannot be classified as moderate terrorism and extremist terrorism.

The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously in favor of a resolution demanding Syria to hand over or destroy its chemical weapons by mid-2014.

Moallem pledged full implementation of the convention and cooperation with the OPCW.

He blamed the rebels for launching chemical weapons attacks in Syria and their regional and Western backers for providing those weapons, the report added.