Assad rejects Syria transition deadline

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has said a political process to end the country’s bloody civil war cannot begin while it is occupied by “terrorists”. Mr Assad told Italian state television the timetable for elections “starts after starting to defeat terrorism”. It is unclear whether he was referring only to Islamic State (IS) militants or also […]

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has said a political process to end the country’s bloody civil war cannot begin while it is occupied by “terrorists”.
Mr Assad told Italian state television the timetable for elections “starts after starting to defeat terrorism”.
It is unclear whether he was referring only to Islamic State (IS) militants or also to Western-backed rebels.
Last week, 19 countries – including Mr Assad’s allies – set a deadline of 1 January for the start of peace talks.
They signed a UN statement that calls for a ceasefire to be agreed by 14 May 2016 and for free elections to be held a year later.
Neither the Syrian government nor opposition were invited to take part in the event in Vienna so that the countries could present a unified message.