According to official sources, since March 2011 when the conflict erupted, about 250,000 people have lost their lives and millions more been displaced by the turmoil in Syria. The West insists he must go, while Russian Federation and Iran support the regime.
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Syrian legislator Sharif Shehadeh, a member of the ruling Baath party, said there will be no presidential vote before Assad’s latest term ends in 2021.
Russian Federation is accusing the USA of hijacking preparatory talks for a weekend meeting focused on ending the Syrian war, while US officials are expressing surprise that Moscow did not show up for the meetings.
The Syria resolution would condemn the presence in Syria of “all foreign terrorist fighters … and foreign forces fighting on behalf of the Syrian regime, particularly the al Quds Brigades, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (of Iran) and militia groups, such as Hezbollah”.
“However, in the course of our activities, we are ready to take into account any reliable information on the location of terrorist groups”.
In a Friday address to Russian and Turkish journalists, Putin said the airstrikes, which began on September 30 at the request of the Syrian government, will continue until the objectives of the operation are realized.
It calls for the Security Council to list Isis as “a terrorist organisation” and agreement on an additional list of terrorist groups.
Angry exchanges were reported from the first round of talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, its regional rival and Assad’s bitterest enemy.
Coalition member Michel Kilo said Moscow’s real aim was to preserve Assad and his state apparatus by pushing for an unfair electoral process.
De Mistura said he hopes the second round of talks in Vienna will “bring some deliverables for the Syrian people, and one of them should be reduction of violence … and I hope something in that direction can be achieved”.
The United States and its European and Arab allies are demanding that Assad be forced to step down during the transition of power, but Iran and Russian Federation disagree.
Western diplomats believe that the Russian plan, proposed about two weeks ago, does not clarify Assad’s fate and therefore it can not be a basis for discussions.
The divides have narrowed considerably, he said, adding that the Americans and the Russians now seem to see eye-to-eye on restructuring the political system by drafting a new constitution and holding early elections.
“That just isn’t enough”, the United Nations diplomat told AFP.
“It has to be part of the final deal that the end point will not have Assad in power”.
It is “not a question of a person, it is a question of security and stability”, President Hassan Rouhani said an interview with French media, according to the France 2 television channel – though he did not mention Assad by name.
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“We must all make efforts to eradicate terrorism in Syria and ensure that peace and stability return”, and the best way to eliminate terrorists is to keep a strong government in Damascus, he said.
