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Assad ready to stand in new election: Russian MP | ||||||
2015-10-26 | ||||||
Syria's President Bashar Al Assad is willing to eventually hold parliamentary and presidential elections and is ready to run himself for president, a Russian lawmaker told AFP from Damascus on Sunday.
Assad said he was ready to take part in the polls "if the people are not against it," Yushchenko added, speaking after the 1.5-hour meeting that included other Russian lawmakers and various other figures. "He is absolutely sure of himself."
On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was time to start preparing for elections in Syria and also said Moscow was ready to provide air support for Western-backed "patriotic" rebels battling both jihadists and Assad. The offer of help apparently represented a marked shift in Moscow's position.
Representatives of Syria's Western-backed opposition rejected Russia's offer, saying Moscow should first stop bombing moderate rebels. The Russian delegation's meeting with Assad in Damascus caps a week of intense diplomacy which also saw President Vladimir Putin host Assad at the Kremlin for a surprise summit on Tuesday, the Syrian leader's first known foreign trip since the outbreak of unrest in 2011. After the unannounced talks, Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry agreed in Vienna on Friday to explore new ways of trying to reach a political settlement.
The country last held parliamentary elections in May 2012, and it is in theory due to hold its next legislative vote in 2016. | ||||||
Posted by:Steve White |