Assad government committed to the fight against terrorism: Syrian FM

Key players took part in the multilateral talks in Vienna, pushing a diplomatic process forward to seek a solution for ending the ongoing Syria crisis, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry both said there is still difference over the future of al-Assad, although a few progress was made in the talks.

Since the beginning of the foreign-backed crisis in Syria in March 2011, an assortment of militant groups, including the Daesh Takfiri terrorists and the US-backed Free Syrian Army, have been formed in the country with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the Syrian government. “It is unacceptable”, he said, referring to Assad.

But divisions remained on the fate of Assad, with Russian Federation and Iran resisting Western and Saudi pressure to force the Syrian president from power.

The UN General Secretary said that President Bashar al-Assad’s fate lies with the people of Syria. “It is not an action focused on (Syrian President Bashar) Assad, it focused exclusively on Daesh and in augmenting our ability to rapidly attack Daesh”, Kerry told a news briefing during a visit to Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek.

“It is not a decision to enter into Syria’s civil war”.

He added that the oil-rich kingdom’s policy toward Syria has not changed, and that Saudi Arabia will continue to support the moderate Syrian opposition. That essentially gave Assad veto power over his would-be replacements.

They need a new constitution. That includes what “transition” would mean for him, what powers he could maintain as part of that transition, how long the process should take and whether he can compete in a future presidential election, something his worldwide backers refuse to rule out.

“This is important if efforts for fighting terrorism become effective and talk on a ceasefire is useful”.

However, despite the world major states and regional major countries, no delegation from Syria attended the meeting.