Assad invites U.S.
Syrian president ignores American-led coalition fighting Islamic State since 2014
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview released on Friday that the U.S. is welcome to join the battle against “terrorists” in Syria — as long as it is in co-operation with his government and respects the country’s sovereignty.
Speaking with Yahoo News, Assad said he has not had any communication — direct or indirect — with U.S. President Donald Trump or any official from the new U.S.
But the Syrian leader appeared to make a gesture to the new U.S. president in the interview, saying he welcomes Trump’s declaration that he will make it a priority to fight terrorism — a goal Assad said he also shares.
However, Assad’s government has labelled all armed opposition to his rule — including the U.S.backed rebels — as “terrorists.”
“We agree about this priority,” Assad said of Trump. “That’s our position in Syria, the priority is to fight terrorism.”
Syria’s six-year civil war has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced half the country’s population.
The country is shattered and the chaos has enabled the rise of Islamic State, which in a 2014 blitz seized a third of both Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
The extremist group, responsible also for several deadly attacks around the world, has declared an Islamic caliphate in the territory it controls.
Assad also told Yahoo News that his country would welcome U.S. “participation” in the fight against terrorism but it has to be in co-operation with the Syrian government.
Assad’s comment ignored the U.S.-led international coalition, which has been targeting Islamic State and al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria with airstrikes since September 2014. The U.S. also has advisers in Syria along with predominantly Kurdish fighters north of the country who are fighting against Islamic State.
“If you want to start genuinely, as United States ... it must be through the Syrian government,” Assad said. “We are here, we are the Syrians, we own this country as Syrians, nobody else, nobody would understand it like us.
“So, you cannot defeat the terrorism without co-operation with the people and the government” of Syria, he added.
The Syrian government has blamed the U.S. for backing opposition fighters trying to remove Assad from power. The rebels formed a serious threat to the Syrian leader until 2015, when Russia joined Syria’s war backing Assad’s forces and turned the balance of power in his favour.
“We invited the Russians, and the Russians were genuine regarding this issue. If the Americans are genuine, of course they are welcome, like any other country that wants to defeat and to fight with the terrorists. Of course, with no hesitation we can say that,” Assad said in English.
In other developments Friday, the Kremlin said that Russia and Turkey have agreed to improve co-ordination in Syria to prevent further friendly fire incidents after a Russian airstrike killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 the day before.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the accidental strike near the town of al-Bab in northern Syria prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss better co-operation in fighting Islamic State in the area.
In a signal that the incident hasn’t hurt a Russia-Turkey rapprochement, Peskov said that Erdogan is set to visit Russia next month.