US, European allies denounce Syria's upcoming election as neither free nor fair

The upcoming presidential election in Syria is neither free nor fair, the top diplomats of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

"We, the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America wish to make clear that Syria's May 26 presidential election will neither be free nor fair," the statement said. "We denounce the [Bashar] Assad regime's decision to hold an election outside of the framework described in UN Security Council Resolution 2254."

The foreign affairs ministers expressed support for the Syrian opposition and condemned the electoral process as illegitimate.

The United States and its allies insisted on United Nations supervision over the election in Syria and stressed that all Syrians, including the internally displaced persons, should be allowed to participate.

"Without these elements, this fraudulent election does not represent any progress towards a political settlement," they said.

The foreign ministers called the upcoming election Assad's attempt to regain legitimacy and urged the international community to reject it.

President Bashar Assad runs in Syria's second presidential election since the onset of the decade-long conflict against the former Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Abdullah Salloum Abdullah and the head of the National Democratic Front, Mahmoud Ahmad Marei. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )