“Assad said that if the Syrian people consider it necessary, he would not be against taking part in presidential elections”, RIA quoted lawmaker Alexander Yushchenko as saying.
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Yushchenko, who is a member of the Communist Party, stressed that Assad was ready to discuss constitutional reform and eventual elections only after Syria is “liberated” from Islamic State jihadists.
His comments came during talks with a Russian parliamentary delegation visiting Damascus just days after Assad went to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin. The first signs that a similar situation could develop in Syria emerged barely two weeks after Russian Federation launched its air campaign. The vote was won overwhelmingly by Assad but dismissed as a sham by opponents, with much of the country at war and millions forced from their homes. “There is no sense in talking about elections now before a real transition of power”.
The Lebanese sources meanwhile added that initiatives to support the Syrian army were also discussed during his meetings in Moscow, and that Iran has transferred funds to the Syrian government to boost Syrian troops’ monthly wages “up to 150 dollars per week”.
“What we care about is Assad leaving, not turning this from a war against the regime to a war against terrorism”, Saoud, a former Syrian army officer who defected and now leads the rebel 13th Division group, told the AP.
“We must force them to come up with a plan for their country where the interests of every religious, ethnic and political group will be well protected”, Lavrov told Russian state TV in an interview broadcast on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, our American colleagues do not believe they need to work in this area”, he said.
The aerial attacks took place in the northern part of Homs governate on October 15 as Russian and Syrian planes were supporting a ground offensive by the Syrian military and its allies against rebel groups, the rights group said in a statement Sunday. The Saudi defense minister, Muhammad bin Salman, recently visited Moscow but failed to persuade the Russian leadership to abandon Bashar al-Assad. But the US-led coalition has so far refused to cooperate with Russia’s operations beyond a basic agreement meant to prevent mid-air incidents.
After the unannounced talks, Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry agreed in Vienna on Friday to explore new ways of trying to reach a political settlement. However, on this front there has been no progress, and Syrian opposition strongly oppose this “compromise”, while the “dialogue” is conducted by intensive gunfire on the battleground.
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Jatras: You still see that Assad needs to leave from people who are in a very weak position to make a demand on anything. The ministry maintains that Russia has only deployed advisors to help train and advice the Syrian forces on how to use Russian made military hardware.
