MOSCOW, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Monday strongly condemned the allegedly threat by an armed Syrian opposition on attacking civilian airports in Syria, saying such actions were no different from terrorists.
Moscow was deeply concerned over the statement of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that the international airports of Damascus and Aleppo were taken as "military targets" and civilian aircraft using them would be shot down, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
FAS reported gave civilian airliners 72 hours to cease flights to these airports starting from Sept. 1.
"We believe these threats are unacceptable. They are a flagrant violation of international law, in particular the Chicago Convention of 1944 on international civil aviation," said the ministry.
Russia called on outside players who have influence on the " radical opposition" to prevent such threats from being carried out. Moscow has already contacted these countries via diplomatic channels, said the statement.
Meanwhile, the ministry recommended Russian citizens not to travel to Syria and called on Russians living in the conflict-torn country to take "safe route" for leaving.
The FSA warned earlier it could begin attacking the two airports as early as Tuesday, since they were being used by Syrian military troops to carry out strikes against the opposition, according to media report.
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