Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hardened his position on United Nations-sponsored peace talks in his first address to the newly elected Parliament broadcast on State television yesterday.
“We will not agree to any topic outside the statement of principles we presented to the UN. We just won’t accept it,” Assad told lawmakers.
The document submitted by the Government delegation stresses that Syria will be ruled by a “unity government” — not a “transitional governing body” without Assad, as called for by the Opposition.
Assad said he had received no response from the UN regarding this paper and that in the Government’s eyes, “the negotiations have not actually started”.
He was addressing lawmakers for the first time since an April general election in Government-controlled areas that was dismissed internationally as a sham.
“The Syrian people surprised the world yet again with an unprecedented voter turnout… and an unprecedented number of candidates,” Assad said.
Syria’s conflict began in 2011 with protests calling for Assad to step down, and several rounds of UN-backed peace talks have failed to bring an end to what has become a complex civil war.
In February, the United States and regime ally Russia brokered a ceasefire between Government forces and non-jihadist rebels in an effort to bolster the peace negotiations.
The ceasefire has allowed Syria’s armed forces to focus on key fronts, Assad said, including the historic city of Palmyra — where regime forces backed by Russia defeated the Islamic State jihadist group in March.
“As we liberated Palmyra, so shall we liberate every inch of Syria… we have no choice but victory,” he said to applause from lawmakers.
However, the United States yesterday said that Assad’s vow to recapture “every inch” of Syria was discouraging, and urged Russia and Iran to pressure their ally into respecting a ceasefire.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the belligerent speech was unsurprising and dubbed it “vintage Assad”, adding that Washington would call on Russia, its co-chair of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), to restrain its ally.
“We still believe that Russia and Iran can at least appeal to those in the regime who still have influence on him to refrain from letting this political process, this cessation of hostilities, fall completely apart,” Toner said.
“Again, there is nothing surprising in what he said today, but, you know, it was discouraging.”
President Barack Obama’s spokesman Josh Earnest said Assad’s determination to cling to power “only exacerbates the chaos and turmoil”, and said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has the power to change his calculus.
“President Putin made a commitment to use that influence to get the Assad regime to abide by the cessation of hostilities,” he said.
The ISSG, a 21-nation contact group that includes Assad foes like Saudi Arabia and friends like Iran, as well as Washington and Moscow, supported a UN-led process to end Syria’s five-year civil war through a negotiated deal.
The outline of a peace plan — including a “political transition” away from Assad’s rule — has been endorsed by the UN Security Council, but Assad has thus far refused to accept calls for him to step down.
It was unclear if Assad’s speech was broadcast live or pre-recorded earlier this week.
His last address to Parliament was in June 2012, just after general election in May of that year.
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