Syria’s Assad: ‘Significant’ Chance I’ll Seek New Term

Sammy Ketz of the AFP has an exclusive interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who tells the wire there is a “significant” chance he will run for re-election this year.

“Speaking at the presidential palace in Damascus, days before the beginning of the Geneva II peace talks, Assad said he expected his country’s bloody conflict to drag on, calling it a ‘fight against terrorism’ and rejecting any distinction between opposition fighters and radical jihadists. ‘I see no reason why I shouldn’t stand,’ Assad said. If ‘there is public desire and a public opinion in favor of my candidacy, I will not hesitate for a second to run for election.’”

He also denounces the Syrian opposition, deeming it “created” by foreign backers. “And he described the possibility of appointing key opposition figures to the post of prime minister as nothing more than ‘a good joke.’ They ‘come to the border for a 30-minute photo opportunity and then they flee,’ he said. ‘How can they be ministers in the government?’”

U.N. Invites Iran to Syria Talks, Raising Objections From the U.S.

The New York Times reports that the U.N. has invited Iran to join this week’s Syria peace talks, drawing objections from the United States.

“At the heart of the dispute is whether Iran has accepted the terms of the talks, which begin Wednesday in Montreux, Switzerland: to establish ‘by mutual consent’ a transitional body to govern Syria. [Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon] said he had been privately assured that Iranian officials ‘welcome’ those rules and that they had pledged to play ‘a positive and constructive role.’

“American officials said they had been in regular communication with the United Nations over the requirements Iran would need to meet to be invited, but they appeared to have been caught off guard by Mr. Ban’s hastily organized news conference. They pointed out that Iran had not publicly accepted the formal mandate for the conference, which was agreed upon in Geneva in 2012 and is known as the Geneva communiqué.”

Al-Qaida Training European Jihadis in Syria to Set Up Terror Cells at Home

Ruth Sherlock and Tom Whitehead of the Telegraph report that al-Qaida is training some of the hundreds of British and European jihadists fighting in Syria to set up terror cells at home.

“In a rare interview on Turkey’s border with Syria, [a] defector from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) said that recruits from Britain, Europe and the U.S. were being indoctrinated in extremist anti-Western ideology, trained in how to make and detonate car bombs and suicide vests and sent home to start new terror cells,” they write.

“He has provided the first confirmation from Syrian rebels that young British men are being indoctrinated in extremist anti-Western ideology. Some of those intent on overthrowing the Syrian regime are being brainwashed by fanatics, the former member of ISIS warned.”

In Syria, Former Official Says, ‘Nobody Is Winning’

The New York Times has an interview with Jihad Makdissi, a former Foreign Ministry spokesman in Syria who fled in 2012.

“The opposition is adopting the ‘step aside’ approach and focusing on the president; the loyalists are adopting the ‘let’s fight terrorism’ approach. Meanwhile, Geneva is calling for the formation of a transitional body and a process of restructuring the country. So there’s a missing elephant in the room! That is why it’s in each side’s interest to make Geneva fail. Nobody likes Geneva. It’s like an orphan child that nobody wants, because they know that when they do attend Geneva they will lose something in the eyes of their crowds. People in Syria want to achieve change and not only regime change. People have a larger scope than the politicians,” he says.

“Engaging in any diplomatic initiative would mean buying more time and betting on the change of mood in the Western sphere to get a better political deal.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:

Washington Post: Disarray as Iran Invited to Syria Peace Talks

Guardian: Fighting Extremism in Syria is a Losing Battle

NPR: Low Hope, High Stakes for Syria Peace Conference in Geneva

Al Jazeera: Explaining the Geneva II Peace Talks on Syria

Reuters: Iran Says to Attend Geneva II, No Preconditions