DUSHANBE, October 5, 2015, Asia-Plus –
CBS News
reports that Syrian President Bashar Asad told the Iranian
Khabar TV
on Sunday he would be willing to step down if he thought it would help.
“If my leaving office is the solution, I will never hesitate to do so,” President Asad said.
But Mr. Assad insisted: “Discussion about the political system or officials in Syria is an internal Syrian affair.”
In an interview with Iranian state television, President Asad also said Syria, Russia, Iran and Iraq were united in battling terrorism and would achieve “practical results,” unlike the US-led coalition.
Syrian President said a coalition between Syria, Russia, Iran and Iraq must succeed “or else the whole region will be destroyed.”
BBC
reports that Mr. Assad”s international opponents say a negotiated solution to Syria”s four-year-old civil war must involve the president stepping down, although some Western nations now say he could remain during a transitional period.
Meanwhile, Russia has carried out more air strikes in Syria. Russia”s defense ministry said on Sunday that its aircraft had bombed 10 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in Syria over the past 24 hours – including command posts, a training camp, ammunition stores and a workshop making explosive devices including suicide belts. It said its air campaign, which began on Wednesday, was being expanded.
“As a result of our air strikes on ISIL targets, we have managed to disrupt their control system, the terrorist organization”s supply lines, and also caused significant damage to the infrastructure used to prepare acts of terror,” the ministry added.
