LATEST: Kerry — No Peaceful Solution While Assad Still in Power

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SUMMARY: Appearing on the pro-regime Al Mayadeen TV on Monday night, President Assad has declared that there is “a new international balance” over the conflict.

Buoyed by the US move away from intervention and — with Russia — towards pressure on the opposition to attend a “peace” conference in Geneva, Assad said he “will negotiate all the opposition parties, except the armed ones”.

The President denounced foreign powers for “employing mercenaries in Syria” and supporting “terrorists”. However, predicted that others would soon follow the US retreat from intervention, since “Saudi Arabia carries out the American policies faithfully” and “will change its attitude towards Syria if the USA does”.

Assad also challenged those who did not fall into line, “Lebanon allowed the smuggling of weapons on the Lebanese-Syrian borders. [So] Syria will provide the Lebanese resistance with all kinds of weapons.”

He accused Turkey of supporting “militants”, declaring that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “is affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood and aimed at enabling them to rule Syria”.

The President insisted that there was no authentic challenge to his rule: “What happened in Syria differs from what happened in Egypt and Tunisia” in the last 2 1/2 years.

He pointed to the likely path for his remaining in power, saying that no obstacle prevents him from running for the next Presidential elections in 2014.

Kerry: No Peaceful Solution While Assad Still in Power

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that there can be no peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict with President Assad remaining in power.

Kerry said, after meeting separately with Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah and with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal:

I don’t know anyone who believes the opposition will ever consent to Bashar al-Assad being part of government. And if he thinks he’s going to solve problems by running for re-election, I can say to him, I think with certainty, this war will not end as long as…he is there.

Kerry travels to London Tuesday for a meeting with other members of the Friends of Syria and the Syrian opposition.