Obama Says Assad Must Go for Peace in Syria .

Erdogan Obama Says Assad Must Go for Peace in Syria as Draft U.N. Resolution Calls for January Talks. (Naharnet).

The draft text, obtained by AFP, states that the "only sustainable solution to the current crisis in Syria is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."

The measure draws heavily on statements agreed during previous talks in Geneva and Vienna by calling for an "inclusive transitional governing body with full executive powers" in Syria.

It asks the United Nations to bring the Syrian government and the opposition to the table for formal negotiations on a political transition "with a target of early January 2016."

The draft resolution, however, does not touch on one of the most contentious issues in the peace effort: the fate of Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Ahead of the council meeting, U.S. President Barack Obama reaffirmed the U.S. stance that Assad must leave power during his Washington year-end news conference.

"I think that Assad is going to have to leave in order for the country to stop the blood(shed), for all the parties involved to be able to move forward in a nonsectarian way," Obama said. "He has lost legitimacy in the eyes of the country."

Obama said Assad's remaining in power, after having chosen to "slaughter" his people rather than pursue an inclusive political transition, "is not feasible."

"As a consequence, our view has been that you cannot bring peace to Syria, you cannot get an end to the civil war unless you have a government that it is recognized as legitimate by a majority of that country. It will not happen," he said.

The diplomatic balancing act aims to keep both Moscow and Riyadh on board as big powers aim to build momentum for peace talks and a ceasefire.

Syria's main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said however that achieving a ceasefire by January 1 was unrealistic and demanded that Russia halt air strikes as part of that truce.

Assad, in his interview with Dutch television, turned sarcastic when asked whether he was comforted that Washington's stance on his departure was seemingly softening. "I was packing my luggage. I had to leave, but now I can stay," he said.  Read the full story here.

Assad says he won't negotiate with 'terrorists' as Obama 'admin' wants.

Assad says he won't negotiate with 'terrorists' as Obama 'admin' wants. (DS).

Syrian President Bashar Assad said the United States and Saudi Arabia wanted "terrorist groups" to join peace talks proposed by world powers, and that nobody in Syria would accept such talks, in an interview transcript published by state media.

Asked whether he would be willing to join negotiations called for by world powers by Jan. 1, he said: "They want the Syrian government to negotiate with terrorists, something I don't think anyone would accept in any country."

They were Assad's first comments since Syrian opposition groups including armed rebels met in Saudi Arabia this week to draw up a common platform for negotiations. Asked whether he would be willing to negotiate with the groups, he said:

"Whenever they want to change their approach, give up the armaments, we are ready, while to deal with them as a political entity, this is something we completely refuse."

The interview with Spanish news agency EFE and published on state news agency SANA came a day after more than 100 representatives from Syria's fragmented political and armed opposition agreed in Riyadh to work together to prepare for peace talks with Assad.

Asked if he had thought about stepping down as president and leaving the country, he said: "I never thought about leaving Syria under any circumstances, in any situation, something I never put in my mind."

He said it was up to the Syrian people to decide whether he should leave his post, but that he had the support of the "majority of the Syrians."

Full Assad interview to Russia's Tass 'West intervention must stop to reach solution'

Full Assad interview to Russia's Tass 'West intervention must stop to reach solution'. (SANA).

Damascus, SANA – President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to Russian media in which he hailed the Russian initiative for inter-Syrian dialogue as positive and denied any direct dialogue between Syria and the US, stressing that there has been no real change in the American or Western policies on Syria so far.

The following is the full text of the interview:

Question 1: Thank you, Mr. President. I am Gregory from TASS News Agency. What is you assessment of the next round of Syrian-Syrian talks scheduled to be held in Moscow next April, and who will represent Syrian in these talks? In your opinion, what is the essential factor to ensure the success of Syrian-Syrian dialogue?

President Assad: Our assessment of this new round of talks, and of the Russian initiative in general, is very positive, because the initiative is important; and I can say that it is necessary. As you know the West, or a number of Western countries, have tried, during the Syrian crisis, to push towards a military war in Syria and the region sometimes under the title of fighting terrorism, and at other times under the title of supporting people who rose for freedom, and other lies which have been circulating in Western media.

The Russian initiative was positive because it emphasized the political solution, and consequently preempted the attempts of warmongers in the West, particularly in the United States, France, and Britain, as they have done in the Ukraine. You know that warmongers have been pushing towards arming different parties in Ukraine in order to change regimes, first in Ukraine, then in Russia. That’s why the principle behind this initiative is good and important. We have always believed and spoke publicly that every problem, however big, should have a political solution. This is in principle. However, its success depends very much on the substance genuinely reflecting the title which you have spoken about.

The title is: a Syrian-Syrian dialogue. In order for this dialogue to succeed, it should be purely Syrian. In other words, there shouldn’t be any outside influence on the participants in this dialogue. The problem is that a number of the participants in the dialogue are supported by foreign Western and regional countries which influence their decisions. As you know, only a few days ago, one of these parties announced that they will not participate in the dialogue. They didn’t participate in the first round.

So, for this dialogue to succeed, the Syrian parties taking part in it should be independent and should express what the Syrian people, with all their political affiliations want. Then, the dialogue will succeed.

That’s why the success of this initiative requires that other countries not interfere, as Moscow proposed in the first round; for the dialogue to be among the Syrians with the Russians facilitating the dialogue among the Syrians without imposing any ideas on them. If things happen this way, I believe this dialogue will achieve positive results for stability in Syria. Read the full interview here. HT Source:

In other interview for U.S. 60 minutes, #Assad says he's open to 'dialogue w/ U.S. based on mutual respect' http://t.co/sKRGGd3l2S @EjmAlrai

— маяковский (@moscow_ghost) March 27, 2015