Russian Foreign Ministry accuses western media of incompetence in reporting on Syria

The level of competence of the “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights", based in London, whose data is used by many western media, makes one doubt the reliability of the information it provides, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Saturday, RIA Novosti reports.

”According to our information, only 2 people work in this" Observatory "- a manager and a secretary-translator. It is headed by a certain R. Abdurahman, who not only has no journalistic or legal training, but did not even complete secondary education. But in an interview with the media in November last year he said he was a permanent resident in London, to have British citizenship and is engaged in business activities (he is owner of a diner)," the official website of the Foreign Ministry comments.

The document also notes that the representatives of the "Observatory" shy away from contact with Russian diplomats.

"We believe that these facts indicate how “reliable” the information supplied by this structure is," the document states.

The data of the human rights defenders of the "Observatory" on the number of victims of the Syrian conflict are used by major Western media.

In Syria, anti-government protests have not stopped since mid-March 2011. Every day reports of deaths appear, both of civilians and uniformed personnel. According to UN figures, the total number of victims has exceeded 5000 people. Human rights activists in the Western media report more than 7500 deaths. Syrian officials say that more than two thousand soldiers and police officers have been killed in clashes with the armed opposition, which is represented by well-armed militants.