Assad: Syria transition talks are internal matter

Associated Press ^ | May 18, 2013 4:36pm | KARIN LAUB and Bassem Mroue

[haffast]

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.

In the capital Damascus, a car bomb killed at least three people and wounded five, according to Syrian state TV. It said bomb experts dismantled other explosives in the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said eight people were killed, including four members of the security forces. Discrepancies in death tolls are common in the chaotic aftermath of bombings in Syria.

Assad's comments to the Argentine newspaper Clarin were the first about his political future since Washington and Moscow agreed earlier this month to try to bring the Syrian regime and the opposition to an international conference for talks about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The U.S. and Russia have backed opposite sides in the conflict, but appear to have found common ground in the diplomatic push.

The White House and the Kremlin envision holding the meeting next month, but no date has been set. Neither Assad nor the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed coalition group, has made a firm commitment to attend.

In the interview, Assad seemed to play down the importance of such a conference, saying a decision on Syria's future is up to the Syrian people and that the U.S. has no right to interfere. He also said a decision on his political future must be made in elections, and not during such a conference.

snip

[haffast]

US army chief slams Russia for arming, emboldening Assad
By Ron Friedman and AP May 18, 2013, 12:20 am

"Dempsey calls Moscow’s insistence on providing Syria with advanced arms ‘very unfortunate’; Hagel says all sides must work to avoid a descent into ‘regional war’"
http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-army-chief-slams-russia-for-arming-emboldening-assad/

[SunkenCiv]

That’s why Assad will be toast. It may not be this year, but he won’t die of natural causes — unless he finally wusses out and flees to Russia or Iran, leaving his supporters high and dry.

Thanks haffast.