Voice of America – Syrian state media have dismissed as “inaccurate” a report that President Bashar al-Assad told visiting Russian lawmakers he has no intention of giving up power and the issue is not up for discussion.<\/p>\n
The conflicting reports come just days ahead of an internationally sponsored peace conference on Syria.<\/p>\n
The Russian news agency Interfax had quoted Mr. Assad as saying “if we had wanted to give up, we would have surrendered from the start.”<\/p>\n
“This issue is not up for discussion,” he reportedly said Sunday in remarks translated into Russian.<\/p>\n
Syria’s government and the opposition are due to participate in peace talks in Switzerland beginning Wednesday, with Mr. Assad’s role in Syria’s future expected to be a key stumbling block.<\/p>\n
The Geneva 2 meeting aims to create a transitional government with full executive powers.<\/p>\n
While few expect the talks will reach this goal, its supporters are hoping the discussions will at least result in increased humanitarian access and local cease-fires to make life easier for Syrian civilians.<\/p>\n
The Syrian National Coalition – the country’s main political opposition grouping in exile – has agreed to attend the talks. A senior SNC official said its leadership will meet later Sunday in Istanbul to name members of the delegation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Voice of America – Syrian state media have dismissed as “inaccurate” a report that President Bashar al-Assad told visiting Russian lawmakers he has no intention of giving up power and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-15786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-iran-a-world","7":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n