President Assad Seeks Agreement Over U.S. Airstrikes in Syria

“President Bashar al-Assad has said U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria should be subject to an agreement with Damascus and Syrian troops should be involved on the ground,” Reuters reports.

“With any country that is serious about fighting terrorism, we are ready to make cooperation, if they’re serious,” Assad said in an interview with Foreign Affairs Magazine, when asked if he would be willing to take steps to make cooperation easier with the United States.

The U.S. supports opposition forces battling for several years to topple the Assad regime, but the growing influence of jihadist groups, including the Islamic State and the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, has complicated its efforts to find an ally on the ground.

In recent months, the U.S. has prioritized countering the growing threat of the Islamic State through an air campaign against the militant group in Syria and Iraq.

The United States has denied the claim that it’s allying itself with the Syrian government despite having a common enemy, and recent reports suggesting that U.S. policy is becoming more open to the gradual departure of President Bashar al-Assad.

“When asked what he would like to see from the United States, Assad said Washington should pressure Turkey not to allow money and weapons into northern Syria and to make legal cooperation with Syria and start by asking permission from our government to make such attacks.”

Some 100 U.S. troops are scheduled to head to the Middle East in the next few days to set up training sites for Syrian opposition fighters battling the Islamic State, the Pentagon said on Friday.

In his interview, Assad said the campaign should be bolstered by the Syrian army on the ground.

“The question you have to ask the Americans is, which troops are you going to depend on? Definitely, it has to be Syrian troops.”

Kurds Celebrate Victory over Islamic State in Kobani

Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. airstrikes ousted Islamic State militants from the Syrian border town of Kobani after a four-month battle, AP reports.

The Kurds raised a flag on a hill in Kobani that once flew the black banner of the Islamic State, marking a key conquest by the Kurdish forces and U.S.-led coalition.

Kobani has been the focus of intense U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State since September when the group seized control over nearly half of Kobani and forced tens of thousands to flee to neighboring Turkey.

“Daesh gambled on Kobani and lost,” said senior Kurdish official Idriss Nassan, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

“Their defenses have collapsed and its fighters have fled,” he told the Associated Press.

While U.S. officials have not yet confirmed the Kurdish fighters have full control over the town, the U.S. Central Command claims that Kurdish forces now control 90 percent of Kobani.

“It is a historic victory, when a small town like Kobani defeats a formidable criminal force like Daesh,” said Shami, a Kurdish journalist, to the AP.

More than 80 percent of U.S. coalition strikes in Syria have been in or around Kobani since the beginning of the air campaign.

Assad Dismisses Western-Backed Opposition as Peace Talks Begin in Moscow

Syria’s President Assad has dismissed the country’s Western-backed opposition as “puppets,” as a new round of peace talks began in Moscow on Monday between the regime and members of the opposition, BBC reports.

Expectations for a breakthrough this week are low. The main Western-backed opposition group, the National Coalition, has said it would boycott the four days of talks. Five of its members are expected to participate in a personal capacity.

Opposition members who refused to attend cast doubt on Russia’s ability to act as a neutral moderator, claiming the talks would support the man they want to see leave power.

“Many of the more than 30 opposition figures attending are from a Damascus-based official opposition tolerated by Assad and are viewed as traitors by his armed enemies in the conflict,” Reuters reports.

The opposition members will be joined by a government delegation led by Syria’s permanent representative to the U.N., Bashar Jaafari, on Wednesday.

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he hopes to generate ‘chemistry’ that will help the U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, organize a peace conference to end the four-year conflict,” the BBC reports.

Previous peace talks held in Geneva almost a year ago failed to produce results or ongoing momentum. Opposition leaders demanded Assad’s departure, while the regime insisted that the focus of the negotiation should be on countering “terrorism,” its term for armed resistance to its rule.

Recommended Reads:

• Foreign Affairs: Syria’s President Speaks
• Reuters: Syrian Opposition Starts Talks in Moscow, Expectations Low
• AP: Kurds Celebrate Ousting Islamic State Fighters From Kobani
• Wall Street Journal: Covert CIA Mission to Arm Syrian Rebels Goes Awry
• AFP: Little Hope as Moscow Hosts Syria Talks
• Doctors Without Borders: Syria Crisis Fact Sheet