Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi
Egyptian President Mohammed MorsiAFP/File

Syria accused Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi on Friday of “signing the death warrant” of a contact group trying to solve the nearly 18-month conflict by calling for regime change, AFP reported.

“Syria looks positively on any initiative seeking to contain the crisis and permit a return to normal life,” Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said in an interview on state television.

But Morsi's "latest comments signed the death warrant" of an Egyptian proposal for a regional contact group on Syria that would include Damascus's key ally Iran, as well as pro-rebel Saudi Arabia and Turkey, he said.

At a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday of Arab League ministers, Morsi said it was time for the Syrian regime to step down.

“The Syrian people have made their voice clear,” he said, and, in a message to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, added, “You will not be around for long.”

AFP quoted the Syrian government daily Tishrin from an editorial on Friday that took Morsi to task.

"Morsi's partiality when it comes to terrorism, murder and destruction has condemned all efforts and initiatives in which Egypt might be involved," said the editorial. Damascus refers to rebels in the country as "terrorists." 

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)