Syria supports Russian efforts to organize intra-Syrian dialogue (Bashar al-Assad)

Damascus supports Russia’s efforts to organize intra-Syrian dialogue and believes it conducts "a policy based on firm principles", Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with Lebanese TV station Al Manar.

"We feel a great confidence in Russians, they have proven for many decades that they are sincere friends," Assad said. "Russia does not support this or that figure or president, it has clear principles. It speaks in support of the state sovereignty and respects the people’s decision."

He said Damascus "approves and encourages Russia’s efforts to arrange dialogue with the opposition." "Russians do not impose anything on us. An agreement may only emerge when we Syrians ourselves sit down to the negotiating table with one another," the president said.

He did not rule out that intra-Syrian meetings currently taking place in Moscow will lead to a conference to be entitled "Geneva-3", which could be successful.

"All depends on the international atmosphere," Assad said.

According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011.

An international peace conference on Syria, dubbed Geneva-2, organized by Russia and the United States and designed to negotiate a solution to the Syrian crisis, held in January and February 2014, brought no particular progress.
  [tass.ru]
26/8/15
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• US Sees End 'Closing In' on Syria's Assad

• French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday that the "neutralization" of Syrian leader Bashar Assad was a pre-condition to resolving the crisis in the war-torn country.

"We must reduce the terrorist influence without maintaining Assad. The two are bound up together," Hollande told a gathering of French diplomats in Paris.

"We must create a political transition in Syria, it's a necessity."

He laid out three conditions for resolving the crisis - the first of which was the "neutralization" of Assad.

The second was to offer "solid guarantees to all the moderate opposition forces, notably the Sunnis and Kurds, and to preserve state structures and the unity of Syria."

The final condition, which he said would be "decisive," was to bring together regional actors with a stake in the conflict.

"I'm thinking of the Gulf countries, I'm thinking also of Iran. I'm thinking of Turkey which must get involved in the fight against Daesh (an alternative name for ISIS) and resume the dialogue with the Kurds," Hollande said.

Syria's foreign ministry reacted angrily to Hollande's speech, saying it "constituted a flagrant intrusion in internal affairs and shows that France contributes to the spilling of Syrian blood."

"The French government should know that as long as it maintains these positions, we will not accept any role for France in a political solution," the ministry's statement added.

Hollande said France would continue to support "moderate" members of the Syrian opposition and coalition airstrikes against ISIS in neighboring Iraq.

"Terrorism threatens all the actors in the region ... and all world powers," he said. "Resolving the Syrian crisis demands the participation of all, and France is ready to play its part."
  AFP
dailystar.com.lb
25/8/15