Post by cenydd on Oct 22, 2013 8:22:36 GMT
The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has said that "factors are not yet in place" for peace talks despite efforts by world powers to convene a meeting next month.
In an interview with on Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen television, broadcast on Monday, Assad also said he desired a third term as president and had not ruled out running for re-election in 2014.
His comments came as the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who has been pushing for a peace conference next month in Geneva, said any attempt by Assad to be re-elected would extend the country's civil war.
"No time has been set, and the factors are not yet in place if we want (a US-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2) to succeed," Assad told Al-Mayadeen.
"Which forces are taking part? What relation do these forces have with the Syrian people? Do these forces represent the Syrian people, or do they represent the states that invented them?" he asked.
The United States and Russia have been trying to organise the Geneva 2 conference, first announced last year, on the heels of a deal which Syria accepted to destroy its chemical arsenal by mid-2014.
Assad has systematically refused to recognise as legitimate the National Coalition opposition umbrella group, which insists on his removal, a demand the regime rejects.
In an interview with on Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen television, broadcast on Monday, Assad also said he desired a third term as president and had not ruled out running for re-election in 2014.
His comments came as the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who has been pushing for a peace conference next month in Geneva, said any attempt by Assad to be re-elected would extend the country's civil war.
"No time has been set, and the factors are not yet in place if we want (a US-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2) to succeed," Assad told Al-Mayadeen.
"Which forces are taking part? What relation do these forces have with the Syrian people? Do these forces represent the Syrian people, or do they represent the states that invented them?" he asked.
The United States and Russia have been trying to organise the Geneva 2 conference, first announced last year, on the heels of a deal which Syria accepted to destroy its chemical arsenal by mid-2014.
Assad has systematically refused to recognise as legitimate the National Coalition opposition umbrella group, which insists on his removal, a demand the regime rejects.
www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/10/syria-assad-casts-doubt-over-geneva-talks-20131021221040828661.html
Doesn't seem like he has any intentions of going, or of finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.