US calls Morsi's comments on Syria "strong" and "helpful"

The United States Thursday called Egyptian President President Mohammed Morsi's expression of solidarity with the Syrian opposition "helpful" and "very clear and very strong.", dpa reported.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Nonaligned Summit in Tehran, Morsi said it was a "moral obligation" and "political necessity" to show "solidarity with the Syrian people against a regime that lost its legitimacy."

"We must recognize that this bloodshed cannot stop without active intervention by all of us," Morsi said. "We must announce our full support to the freedom seekers in Syria."

Iran is a strong backer of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and Morsi's remarks undercut the diplomatic boost that Iran had claimed by getting Morsi to attend the summit.

US State Department acting deputy spokesperson Patrick Ventrell said the US applauded the remarks by Morsi and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the NAM summit "in support of the Syrian people."

It was "a really strong and clear statement by President Morsi obviously made in Tehran to some people who need to here it there," Ventrell said. Also in Tehran, Ban publicly criticized Iran over its anti-Israel remarks and non-compliance with UN resolutions on its nuclear programme, in his opening speech at the summit.

The United States had criticized both Ban and Morsi for attending the Tehran gathering, since it granted recognition to a country that has defied UN efforts to examine its nuclear programme. But Ventrell praised Ban for his remarks there.

"We thought it was good that the secretary general not only made clear and forceful statements to the Iranians about their nuclear program, but that he also raised their appalling human rights violations, that he also raised the situation in Syria," Ventrell said.