Assad’s vow to retake Syria leaves ceasefire in doubt
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad reiterated his determination to reconquer all of Syria just hours before the scheduled start of a U.S. and Russian sponsored ceasefire Monday aimed at ending five years of conflict.
Assad’s comments, made during a visit to the Damascus suburb of Darayya, called into question whether his government will respect the agreement. The pact spells out a process that intends — at least according to the Obama administration — to culminate in Assad’s departure.
Under the agreement announced in Geneva on Saturday by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the Syrian government and the rebels were to halt all fighting and bombing at 7 p.m. on Monday. That sets in motion a sequence of events intended to lead to new negotiations for a possible transition away from Assad’s rule.
Assad, however, made it clear he has no plans to completely stop fighting to crush the five-year-old rebellion against his regime even as his military announced that it would abide by a ceasefire until Sunday at midnight.
“We as a nation ... are delivering a message that the Syrian state is determined to recover all regions from the terrorists and restore security, infrastructure,” Assad said.
“We come today here to replace the fake freedom they tried to market at the beginning of the crisis ... with real freedom,” he added. “Not the freedom that begins with them and is sustained by dollars ... and by some promises of positions.”
He seemed to be referring to U.S. backing of the rebels and opposition proposals to replace the Assad regime with a more representative government. Kerry stressed that this should be the ultimate goal of the deal reached with Russia, a key ally of Assad.
A main Syrian opposition group linked to several small, moderate rebel factions says they will deal “positively” with the truce brokered by the U.S. and Russia.
The Syrian National Coalition says that any effort that aims to end the suffering of the people “is a step in the right direction and we will deal with it positively.”
The statement was released at sunset, when the truce went into effect. It says rebel groups will have the right to defend themselves if they come under attack by government forces.