Riyadh, Jumada I 1, 1433, Mar 24, 2012, SPA - The Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr. Abdul-Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani considered the recent statements issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov on the Syrian crisis as deplorable and said these are inconsistent with the spirit of the agreement between Russia and the Arab League in their recent meeting in Egypt. Dr. Al-Zayani expressed his astonishment over Lavrov's statements that the closure of the embassies of GCC states in Syria is due to inapprehensible reasons, noting that the closure has been in light of almost a universal consensus to condemn the brutal crimes committed by the Syrian regime against the Syrian people, as well as moral and human responsibility of the GCC States towards the systematic violations of the rights of Syrian citizens. --SPA 11:06 LOCAL TIME 08:06 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/982384