PHOTO: President Assad with Belgian media on Monday


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Up to 13,000 Hung in Military Prison from 2011 to 2015 — Amnesty


President Assad has welcomed Donald Trump and encouraged US-Russian cooperation to resolve the conflict in the Syrian regime’s favor.

Interviewed by Belgian media during a visit by a Parliamentary delegation, Assad said:

What we heard as statements by Trump during the campaign and after the campaign is promising regarding the priority of fighting terrorists, and mainly ISIS, that’s what we’ve been asking for during the last six years. So, I think this is promising, we have to wait, it’s still early to expect anything practical. It could be about the cooperation between the US and Russia, that we think is going to be positive for the rest of the world, including Syria. So, as I said, it’s still early to judge it.

Moscow, an essential backer of the regime, has sidelined the US since last autumn in the political process. Instead, Russia has worked with Turkey and Iran to declare a nominal ceasefire and arrange talks, including the regime and the opposition-rebel bloc, in late January.

However, Trump’s affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the new President’s general if ill-defined emphasis on fighting the Islamic State has raised speculation that Washington could ally with Moscow in maintaining the regime in power. Assad is hoping that this would involve the scrapping of the plan, pursued by the international community since 2012, for a transitional governing authority in which he would step aside.

The rest of Assad’s interview followed his oft-repeated lines, as he did not reject the renewal of talks — next scheduled for February 20 in Geneva — but maintained his distance from any meaningful negotiation with the opposition and rebels.

So, the peace is two things: fighting terrorists and terrorism, stopping the flowing of terrorism, every kind of logistical support.

Second, dialogue between the Syrians to decide the future of their country and the whole political system. These are the headlines about how we see the future of Syria.

There was also a curious explanation as to why his rule — given the Assad family’s grip on the Presidency since 1970 — is justified:

Of course, we don’t own the country, my family doesn’t own the country, to say that only Assad should be in that position, that’s self-evident, and this could be by coincidence, because President Assad [his father Hafez] didn’t have an heir in the institution to be his successor. He died, I was elected, he didn’t have anything to do with my election.

Bashar al-Assad was the only person allowed to stand in the 2000 “election”, in which he officially received 99.7% of the vote.


Dozens Killed in Pro-Assad Strikes Across Country

Pro-Assad airstrikes have killed dozens of people across Syria, despite a nominal ceasefire declared by Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

At least 30 people died in attacks on Idlib city in northwest Syria, in some of the heaviest raids in months.

An estimated eight attacks, by what witnesses believed to be Russian jets, leveled several multi-storey buildings in residential areas.

Russia’s Defense Ministry insisted that the reports that its planes had bombed Idlib were not true.

“We are still pulling bodies from the rubble,” said Issam al Idlibi, a volunteer civil defense worker.

People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel-held city of Idlib

PHOTO: Ammar Abdullah/Reuters

Rescuing a victim:

IDLIB AIRSTRIKES 07-02-17 2

At least four people were killed in strikes on the town of Erbin in East Ghouta, northeast of Damascus. the capital. The Syrian army and pro-government militias have been seeking in recent days to gain new ground there.

Warning — Graphic Images: