The United States still wants a
negotiated political settlement to
Syria's civil war that excludes Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is
open to having a dialogue with the
United
States, but there can be no
"pressuring of the sovereignty" of his
country, he has said in an interview
with CBS' "60 Minutes".
Asked in an excerpt of the interview
that aired on Thursday about recent
comments by US Secretary of State
John Kerry that Washington would
have to negotiate with the Syrian
leader to end the conflict there, Assad said: "As principal, in Syria we could say that every dialogue is a positive thing, and we are going to be open to any dialogue with anyone, including the United States, regarding anything based on mutual respect."
While saying there had been no direct communication between Damascus and Washington, Assad, who has been fighting rebels since 2011, added: "Any dialogue is positive, as I said, in principal, of course, without pressuring the sovereignty of Syria."
The United States still wants a
negotiated political settlement to
Syria's civil war that excludes Assad,
US officials said earlier this month after Kerry's comments.
The State Department said later that
Kerry was not specifically referring to
Assad and that Washington would
never bargain with him.
Washington has made clear its top
priority in Syria is the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, who have seized large parts of the country as well as parts of Iraq.
negotiated political settlement to
Syria's civil war that excludes Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is
open to having a dialogue with the
United
States, but there can be no
"pressuring of the sovereignty" of his
country, he has said in an interview
with CBS' "60 Minutes".
Asked in an excerpt of the interview
that aired on Thursday about recent
comments by US Secretary of State
John Kerry that Washington would
have to negotiate with the Syrian
leader to end the conflict there, Assad said: "As principal, in Syria we could say that every dialogue is a positive thing, and we are going to be open to any dialogue with anyone, including the United States, regarding anything based on mutual respect."
While saying there had been no direct communication between Damascus and Washington, Assad, who has been fighting rebels since 2011, added: "Any dialogue is positive, as I said, in principal, of course, without pressuring the sovereignty of Syria."
The United States still wants a
negotiated political settlement to
Syria's civil war that excludes Assad,
US officials said earlier this month after Kerry's comments.
The State Department said later that
Kerry was not specifically referring to
Assad and that Washington would
never bargain with him.
Washington has made clear its top
priority in Syria is the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, who have seized large parts of the country as well as parts of Iraq.
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