Russia's foreign minister has accused the West of taking an "immoral" stance on Syria by pressuring President Bashar al-Assad while refusing to condemn violence by what he called "armed extremist groups" trying to oust the Arab leader.<br /><br />Sergei Lavrov also rebuffed calls on Moscow to back sanctions against<br />Syria, where a nine-month-long government crackdown on a popular uprising is<br />estimated to have killed more than 5,000 people.<br /><br />He did, however, back the Arab League's push to send observers to the country, which some fear is on the verge of civil war.
