Assad: I will not negotiate with ‘terrorists’

Referring to the groups that met in Riyadh, he added, “Whenever they want to change their approach, give up the armaments, we are ready, while to deal with them as a political entity, this is something we completely refuse”.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, in an exclusive interview with EFE, stressed the need to halt the flow of terrorists that he said were arriving in Syria and Iraq through Turkey, as well as to block the terror financing that, in his view, was originating in Saudi Arabia.

“Our national and religious duties oblige our withdrawal from the conference because the revolutionary groups were not given their real representation”, the group said in a statement.

The Riyadh meeting was meant to bring as ” broad a cross-section of Syrian opposition groups as possible” to the table, according to Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister.

Saudi Arabia has been a key backer of Sunni opposition blocs pushing for Assad’s ouster, such as the hard-line Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham groups that were at the two-day talks in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

Asked whether he would be willing to join negotiations called for by world powers by January 1, he said: “They want the Syrian government to negotiate with terrorists, something I don’t think anyone would accept in any country”.

“We were surprised to receive information about an emergency meeting of “the Friends of Syria Group” on December 14, which is known to adhere to the…position of overthrowing the legitimate government in Damascus”.

Divisive issues remainParticipants said issues that have long divided the opposition remained, with fighters dismissing politicians, exiles writing off domestic dissidents and Islamists and seculars not trusting each other’s motives.

Assad said he still had support in the country and would not step down.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) alongside UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Na …

The talks are to come alongside a cease-fire that the United Nations hopes will cover much of the country, except territories controlled by terrorist groups.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said while the Russian Air Force was providing air cover to some FSA units, which he said were fighting alongside the Syrian army, Russia was not supplying the rebels with arms and ammunition.

The committee is heavily stacked with rebels groups, with 11 representatives, while the largely western-backed exiled opposition has nine members, Syria’s internal opposition closer to Assad six members, and eight independents.

The participants in the Riyadh gathering agreed on forming a 23-member body to prepare for negotiations with al-Assad’s regime, an opposition source said.