Assad finally speaks, says Russia’s air campaign in Syria must succeed

David Cameron has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is making “a awful mistake” by sending jets to prop up Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian activists said Russian strikes in central Homs state had killed at least a shepherd as well as two kids, and injure a further 15 individuals. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated by supporters on Twitter.

Rather, Assad expressed confidence that the Russian moves, conducted as part of a new alliance of Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria, would draw worldwide support away from “terrorists” opposed to his rule and doom American-led diplomacy aimed at securing his departure.

The Syrian opposition, dismayed that the five-day-old Russian air campaign has mainly targeted the anti-Assad rebellion and not the Islamic State, has said it will not participate in any of the peace initiatives on offer because they do not specify that the end goal will be the departure of Assad.

A negotiated solution is said by Mr Assad’s global adversaries to Syria’s four-year old civil war must involve the president stepping down, although a few Western countries say he could stay within a transitional period.

“I would say to them: ‘Change direction, join us in attacking ISIL, but recognise that if we want to have a secure region, we need an alternative leader to Assad”. Smaller hard line Salafi groups that reject democracy, such as Ahrar al-Sham/ The Freemen of Syria decided to make a coalition with al-Qaeda, rather as the Taliban had done in Afghanistan in the 1990s. The U.S.is intent on destroying Islamic State, and Obama said the country’s larger civil war requires a political resolution that would remove Assad, “a brutal, ruthless dictator”.

Syria and the U.S.-backed coalition against ISIS also have continued strikes.

McCain was pushing back against Trump’s assertion last week that the United States should let ISIS and Syria’s army fight – and let Russian Federation worry about ISIS there.

The president has also reportedly endorsed the idea of an increased air campaign against ISIS and helping rebels cut off Syria’s border with Turkey in order to disrupt the terror group’s supply lines to Raqqa.

At the time being, around 2,200 people from Russian Federation are engaged in the fighting in Syria and Iraq. “I don’t think that coalition will achieve anything except a certain balance between those forces on the ground to keep the fire raging”.

“It is not possible for countries who support terrorism to fight it. They support terrorism with funds and put economic sanctions on Syria“.

The Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, insisted that Bashar Al-Assad has no future in any resolution in Syria. They carried out 18 sorties in the past 24 hours, including 10 overnight in which seven sites were bombed, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

Kartapolo’s comments come when the Syrian war, which has been described as the “worst humanitarian crisis of our generation”, is entering its fifth year, with more than 250,000 people killed and millions displaced.