Syria makes veiled hint of Bashar al-Assad resignation
Source: The Telegraph
"As for his resignation, making his resignation a condition for dialogue effectively makes holding such a dialogue impossible," he said. "During the negotiating process any issues can be discussed, and we are ready to discuss even this issue."
Most Syrian opposition parties and rebels fighting inside the country have said they will not accept any solution to the crisis short of Mr Assad's resignation. The west has taken a similar stance, backing an Arab League proposal under which he would hand power to his vice-president, Farouq al-Sharaa.
Russia has backed an alternative approach under which the regime holds negotiations with internal opposition leaders to promote a "political transition plan" whose end result would be decided during the talks. Rebels fear such a plan would simply be an excuse to win time for the regime.
Mr Jamil also dismissed a warning by President Barack Obama that any hint of the deployment or transfer of Syria's chemical weapons was a "red line" that would trigger American intervention. "Obama's threats are simply propaganda linked to the US elections," he said.
"Obama's threats are simply propaganda linked to the US elections," he said.
Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9490867/Syria-makes-veiled-hint-of-Bashar-al-Assad-resignation.html
Basically, you have the West in the form of the United States and Britain (and probably others) funding the rebels in much the same way as we did the Lybian rebels and most of the rebel groups/juntas the US has given a "helping hand" to in the past. Which puts us at odds with Russia, who doesn't want to lose control of the influence it has over Syria in the form of a hard revolution reset.
Interestingly enough, I think both (the US and Russia) want Assad out and know his position is untenable. But they each want to steer how it actually happens so as to benefit them the most. The position that Russia is in currently is basically the position the United States was in during the fall of Mubarak in Egypt.
Everybody's got their favorite dictators.
PB
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