PHOTO: President Assad in an interview with Spain’s El Pais newspaper

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Interview: Assad’s Vision — “In 10 Years, I’m The One Who Saved The Country”

After criticism from Russia over his refusal of negotiations, Syria’s President Assad has revised his position in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

In a rare public speech on Monday, Assad indicated that no talks could be held before a total defeat of rebels, “When gunmen suffer, when they are defeated, the term cease-fire happens between armies and states, but it doesn’t go between a state and terrorists.”

See Syria Feature: Assad Rejects Ceasefires and Departure from Power

Assad’s position irritated Moscow, who are formally working with the UN and the International Syria Support Group to pursue the “cessation of hostilities” and talks between the regime and the opposition-rebel bloc. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: “If [Syrian authorities] follow the leadership of Russia in regulating this crisis, then they will have a chance to get out of it with dignity.”

So Assad told El Pais that the regime would “definitely” respect a cessation of hostilities. At the same time, he set out two conditions:

It’s about, first of all, to stop the fire, but it’s about the other complimentary and more important factors, preventing the terrorists from using the ceasefire or the cessation of hostility in order to improve their position. It’s about preventing other countries, especially Turkey, from sending more recruits, more terrorists, more armaments, or any kind of logistical support to those terrorists.

The President also attempted to exclude leading rebel factions, as well as the Islamic State and the jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra, from any ceasefire:

Q. There will be still some fighting even though there’s this ceasefire, at least against some of the armed groups?

Assad: Yes, of course, like ISIS, like al-Nusra, and other organizations or terrorist groups that belong to Al Qaeda. Now, Syria and Russia announced four names: Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam and al-Nusra and ISIS.

“Russia and Iran Essential for Regime”

Assad acknowledged that Russian and Iranian assistance was necessary to support his regime against the opposition and rebels, saying it was “essential for our army to make” advances in recent offensives in northwestern and southern Syria. He justified the assistance by saying that “more than 80 countries supported…terrorists in different ways”.

At the same time, the President said his vision was of a personal mission to win the conflict: “In ten years, if I can save Syria, [if] Syria is safe and sound, and I’m the one who saved his country, that’s my job now, that’s my duty.”

Activists have responded with a social media campaign, under the hashtag “Remember Assad”, highlighting the deaths and destruction under the President’s leadership.

No Sieges, No Russian Bombing of Civilians, No Tortures

Assad denied any claims of his military and Russia causing deliberate harm to civilians through long-term sieges and bombing.

The President said, “We never make embargo on any region in Syria.” He insisted that any shortages was because rebels seized food and sold it at high prices.

Despite documentation of almost 2,000 civilian deaths from Russian airstrikes, Assad claimed that the only casualties were due to the US:

We don’t have any evidence that the Russians attacked any civilian targets. They are very precise in their targets, they always everyday attack the bases or the targets of the terrorists. Actually, it’s the Americans who did this, who killed many civilians in the northeastern part of Syria, not the Russians. I mean, not a single incident happened regarding the civilians so far, because they don’t attack in the cities; they attack actually mainly in the rural areas.

The President also denied any civilian deaths in detention or torture, saying that thousands of photographs documenting casualties and abuse were a forgery by Qatar: “That’s the problem with the West and propaganda; they use unverified information to accuse Syria and to blame it and then to take action against it.”

Video: Silent Protest by Women and Children in Darayya

A silent protest by women and children over regime attacks and sieges on the opposition-held Damascus suburb of Darayya:

Assad forces have cut off and bombarded Darayya, southwest of the capital, since it was taken by rebels in 2012. Attacks have escalated this year as the Syrian military, bolstered by Russian airstrikes and foreign troops, have tried to move into the town.

At Least 117 Killed in Bombings in Homs and Southern Damascus

At least 117 people have been killed by bombings in Homs city and in southern Damascus.

The Governor of Homs Province, Talat al-Barazi, said killed 83 people and wounded 178 near the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in southern Damascus.

DAMASCUS BOMB 21-02-16

DAMASCUS BOMB 21-02-16 2

At least 45 people were killed near the shrine, a revered site for Shia Muslims, on January 31 by Islamic State bombs.

Photo: Regime Delegation Visits Kurdish-Held Tal Abyad on Turkish Border

A regime delegation visits Tal Abyad, taken by Kurdish-led forces from the Islamic State in June 2015:

REGIME DELEGATION TEL ABYAD

The delegation reportedly included Ministers of Local Administration and Electricity and a brigadier general from the Republican Guards.

Tal Abyad lies on the Turkish border, east of the Kurdish center of Kobane.

Freelance Journalist Dirani Killed by Regime Forces in Darayya

Freelance journalist Majid Dirani has been killed by regime forces in Darayya, southwest of Damascus.

Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, who worked with Dirani since December 2015, said the journalist was hit by shrapnel from regime tanks amid heavy fighting, as he tried to photograph mortar shelling and reconnaissance planes.

Dirani was a computer engineering student at Damascus University but left because of the Syrian uprising. He began taking pictures of demonstrations against the Assad regime and posted them on his social platforms.

Dirani

Last October, Anadolu Agency reporter Salih Mahmoud Leyla and freelancer Vesim el Adil were killed in attacks near Aleppo.

Turkey PM Maintains PKK and Syrian Kurdish PYD Involved in Ankara Bombing

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has maintained that the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) are responsible for Wednesday’s bombing in Ankara that killed 28 people and wounded 61.

Davutoğlu rejected the claim of responsibility by the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a group that claims to have broken from the PKK.

He said the link between the PKK, which has waged an armed insurgency for more than 30 years, and the PYD and its YPG militia had been established through the identification of the attacker, said to be a Syrian national.

See Turkey Developing: Ankara Blames Syrian Kurds and Assad for Bombing

The Prime Minister challenged the US, which has refused to denounce the PYD and YPG as terrorist organizations. “What we expect is a solidarity with Turkey without the use of word ‘but’,” he explained.

See Turkey Feature: Ankara Presses US Over Syrian Kurdish YPG Militia