Moscow denies Syrian secret visit

The Russian Foreign Ministry denied, on Monday media reports that Syrian Vice-President Farouk Al-Shara has secretly visited Moscow.What was reported recently about the Syrian Vice-President Farouk Al-Shara’s secret visit to Moscow is not true, the statement  issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry said, stressing that “covert diplomacy is not our method.”  It added that Moscow is continuing to work towards “the quickest political settlement” of the Syrian crisis and an end to the violence, pointing out that it supported the protocol approved by the \'Arab league\'. The Israeli Maariv newspaper on Sunday reported that Russia proposed to the Syrian Vice President Farouk Al-Shara to assume the powers of President Bashar Al-Assad for a transitional period and until holding the elections, this in exchange for Assad being granted political asylum in Moscow. According to the newspaper, Al-Shara visited Moscow on December 16 and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other senior Kremlin officials.