Assad: no political process while ‘terrorists’ in Syria

Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin Friday that Russian warplanes destroyed 15 oil refining and storage facilities in Syria and 525 trucks carrying oil during this week’s bombing blitz.

The Obama administration remains leery of Putin’s eagerness to form a grand military coalition, to include intelligence-sharing, against the Islamic State. That, Obama explained, is why “most of the Russian strikes at this point have not been directed at [ISIS], they’ve been directed at propping up the Assad regime”. If Russia holds fast to Iran and Mr. Assad, it would undermine hopes for an worldwide consensus.

The U.S. and Russia appear to be working at cross purposes – the U.S. bombing ISIS and seeking Assad’s ouster, while Russian planes are accused of bombing U.S.-supported rebels in support of Assad.

“We do not have to lose out values in terms of our ability to vet people”, Kerry said in criticizing lawmakers who hours earlier voted overwhelmingly in support of a House bill that tightens an already stringent vetting process for Syrian and Iraqi refugees wishing to enter the U.S. A number of senior IRGC officers have been killed in Syria in recent months.

He said the attack at the facilities in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib took place between 09:00 and 09:20 Moscow Standard Time (06:00 and 06:20 GMT).

Mr Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin harbour fundamental disagreements on a host of issues that have not been dissolved by the Paris attacks – such as Russian aggression in Ukraine, Moscow’s efforts to demonise Washington and undermine confidence in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) commitment to collective defence, and Kremlin support for Syrian President Bashar Assad. “It is necessary to work out a joint action plan with them, both at sea and in the air”, Putin said. A temporary reprieve is starting to seem more possible, setting the stage for what some observers suggest may be an arrangement in which Mr. Assad is part of a transition government that has a role in the priority of defeating ISIS but then quietly makes way.

French President Francois Hollande has called on the Security Council to quickly adopt a resolution to strengthen the fight against IS jihadists in the wake of the Paris attacks.

“Our Western partners realised the lack of prospects for the approach that many of them had taken”. The United States and others want Assad to step aside during or at the end of a transition period.

ROME – Syrian President Bashar Assad has told Italian state television that no political process can begin while “terrorists” occupy his nation. Hollande said. “Our duty is to get on with our lives”. Included in the meetings were the crown prince of the U.A.E, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the deputy crown prince and defense minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.

John Brennan, CIA director, said Monday that “we’ve been exchanging information” with the Russians about the flow of foreign fighters from their territory, an example of collaboration that he said should be “enhanced”.

Assad and Russian Federation have tended to view anyone opposed to Assad as a terrorist. According to Times of Israel report, Putin apparently has agreed with the global community that Assad has to go if the civil war needs to end in Syria. The Russian leader specifically that said if the Arab states supported him he would help them in their efforts to contain Tehran.