Assad’s future must be decided by Syrian people: Ban

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Western countries’ demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down before resolutions to the Syrian conflict are made, in an interview to Spanish newspapers published on Saturday, Sputnik News reports.

President Obama was compelled to order this limited deployment because of the changing military balance following Russia’s direct involvement in the war on the side of the Assad regime, and the failure of the worldwide air campaign that the USA has been leading for more than a year to seriously degrade or roll back the tactical gains of the Islamic State ISIS in both Iraq and Syria.

“The future of Assad must be decided by the Syrian people”, he said.

He said that the government of President Bashar al-Assad is committed to the fight against terrorism, stressing the important role of Russian Federation, Iran and the Lebanese resistance (Hezbollah) in this regard.

More than 250,000 people have been killed so far in Syria due to the violence perpetrated by terrorists. Indeed Saudi Arabia will have nothing to do with not only Assad but also Iran, as they are ancient enemies on the brand of Islam they practice stemming from the succession of the Holy Prophet ages ago.

In Austria’s capital, Kerry was negotiating with foreign ministers and senior representatives of 18 other countries. “It is unacceptable”, he said, referring to Assad.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said after intensive clashes with government troops, IS forces captured Mahin and were now pushing their way northwest toward Sadad. That includes what “transition” would mean for him, what powers he could maintain as part of that transition, how long the process should take and whether he can compete in a future presidential election, something his global backers refuse to rule out.

But the Syrian regime and the opposition were not represented.

The Vienna meeting discussed Assad’s fate, but focused more on restarting the process of peace talks, he said.

However, despite the world major states and regional major countries, no delegation from Syria attended the meeting.