Syria’s Assad ready to stand in new election: Russian MP

Western powers, however, accuse Moscow only of trying to keep its long-time ally Assad in power and secure its interests, including a Naval facility.

It quoted Assad as saying the eradication of terrorist groups would lead to a political solution that “pleases the Syrian people and maintains Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”. However, they remained deeply divided over the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Assad won reelection more than a year ago.

Meanwhile, an alliance of Free Syrian Army-related insurgent groups said on Monday it was skeptical about a Russian proposal to help rebels, and that Moscow must stop bombing rebels and civilians and withdraw its support for Assad.

“This talk is not correct”, said Ahmed al-Seoud, head of the FSA-affiliated 13th Division group, which operates in areas of western Syria being attacked by Russian warplanes. The Syrian government views the entire armed opposition as “terrorists” and has been waging an offensive on several fronts in recent weeks backed by Russian air strikes.

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.

Meeting a Russian parliamentary delegation as Moscow stepped up efforts for a political deal, Assad emphasised the need for greater security.

Voting did not take place in areas controlled by the opposition, excluding millions of voters.

The conflict began with a wave of mostly peaceful protests in 2011 against the Assad family’s four-decade rule, and only escalated into a full-blown civil war when his forces launched a bloody crackdown on dissent.

The report said “Moscow will call for a dialogue in Syria and the parties of the dialogue will form a government, which will later form committees that will prepare for parliamentarian elections within 18 months”.

“This is all political equivocation”, Munzer Akbik, a member of the main opposition Syrian National Council, told The Associated Press.

Secretary of State John Kerry is to leave Washington Wednesday for Vienna for talks with “around a dozen countries” on the crisis in Syria. Saoud said he had only heard of such Russian overtures through the media.