Assad rejects dialogue with ‘puppet’ opposition
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks at the Opera House in Damascus in this still image taken from video January 6, 2013. – Reuters picBEIRUT, Jan 6 – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced what he described as a peace plan today, 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. – Reuters
