Syria’s Assad rejects dialogue with ‘puppet’ opposition

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced what he described as a peace plan on Sunday, calling for a reconciliation conference with "those who have not betrayed Syria", to be followed by the formation of a new government and an amnesty.

"The first stage of a political solution would require that regional powers stop funding and arming (the opposition), an end to terrorist operations and controlling the borders," he said in a speech in central Damascus, his first public comments in months.

"We will not have dialogue with a puppet made by the West," he said.

He said his government has "not found partners" for a political solution to the country's 21-month crisis, in his first public speech in seven months.

"Just because we have not found a partner, it does not mean we are not interested in a political solution, but that we did not find a partner," the president said to wild applause in the Dar al-Assad for Culture and Arts in Damascus.

He said the conflict was not one between the government and the opposition but between the "nation and its enemies."

Assad also repeated a concern he has frequently outlined; that his country is being subjected to an unprecedented attack from jihadist elements and says the conflict can only be solved through a popular movement.

Assad spoke Sunday in a rare speech addressing the nation, his first since June.

As in previous speeches, he said his forces were fighting groups of "murderous criminals" and jihadist elements and denied there was an uprising against his family's decades-long rule.

He struck a defiant tone, saying Syria will not take dictates from anyone.

He called on all Syrians to take part in an initiative that would end the nearly 22-month old conflict, but did not give any details on the plan.

Assad called for a "full national mobilization" to fight against rebels he described as al-Qaeda terrorists.

"We meet today and suffering is overwhelming Syrian land. There is no place for joy while security and stability are absent on the streets of our country," Assad said. "The nation is for all and we all must protect it."

The remarks were his first in public since a Russian television interview in November when he pledged to stay in Syria and fight to the death if necessary. A 21-month uprising against Assad has become a civil war that the United Nations says has killed 60,000 people.

With insurgents fighting their way closer to the seat of his power, the official SANA news agency said in a brief statement Saturday that Assad will speak about the latest developments in Syria.

The speech is the first by the leader since June, and comes amid intense fighting between government troops and rebels on the outskirts of Damascus.

Assad has rarely spoken in public since the uprising against him began in March 2011. In each of his previous speeches and interviews, the president has dug in his heels even as Western powers have moved to boost the opposition in Syria’s civil war.

In his last public comments, Assad vowed in an interview with Russia Today on Nov. 8 that he would “live and die in Syria.”

Fighting has raged for weeks in the neighborhoods and towns around Damascus that have been opposition strongholds since the Syrian revolt began. The uprising started with peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to a recent United Nations recent estimate.

The rebels are trying to push through the government’s heavy defenses in Damascus, prompting the regime to unleash a withering assault on the suburbs that has included intense barrages by artillery and warplanes.

Diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian crisis have failed so far to bring an end to the bloodshed, although the international community continues to push for a peaceful settlement.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt on Saturday called for a peaceful solution to the conflict roiling Syria, but said the terms of a settlement to end the bloodshed there must be defined by the Syrian people.

“A peaceful solution in Syria is necessary and it is desired by Arab countries and the international community,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Kamel Amr.

“But the way out of the crisis and the conditions for a solution are the responsibilities of the Syrian people.”

Amr expressed similar views.

“If a peaceful solution can stop the bloodshed it will be desirable, but ultimately it is the Syrian people who will decide how to solve their problems,” he said.

The president of the U.N. Security Council said Thursday there are important developments in efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the 21-month conflict in Syria and there could be another U.S.-Russia meeting with international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi next week.

Brahimi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov both said after their meeting last Saturday that the Syrian crisis can only be settled through talks, while admitting that neither the government nor the opposition has shown a desire to compromise. Neither official hinted at a possible solution that would persuade the two sides to agree to a ceasefire and sit down for talks about a political transition.

But Lavrov said Syrian President Bashar Assad has no intention of stepping down - a key opposition demand - and it would be impossible to try to persuade him otherwise. Russia is a close ally of the Syrian government, and has shielded it from punitive measures at the U.N.

It was not clear what kind of initiative, if any, Assad may offer in his speech.