Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
from seeking re-election and that a government team has been formed for peace talks, in an exclusive interview Thursday with Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Nobody has the right to interfere and say he must run or he should not run," Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said, shortly after Russia criticized statements that he wanted to seek another term in 2014.
"President Assad in my opinion should be a candidate but he will decide when the time comes for him to decide," he said.
"I shall ask the opposition: why a Syrian national does not have the right to be a candidate? Who can prevent him? Any Syrian national can be candidate," said Muqdad.
"The ballot boxes will decide who will lead Syria."
Russia earlier on Thursday issued rare criticism of its ally Assad over the presidential election scheduled for next year.
"Exchanging such rhetorical statements just makes the atmosphere heavier and does not make the situation calmer," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.
Bogdanov said Assad and all parties should steer clear of stoking tensions ahead of the peace talks planned for Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
in January aimed at ending the conflict raging in Syria since 2011.
While the opposition insists on Assad's ouster, three years into a brutal war that has killed an estimated 126,000 people, the Syrian regime has repeatedly said he would run in 2014 polls.