Assad promises to retake key area near Damascus

Syrian leader also rejects idea of talks deciding his future

DAMASCUS // Syrian president Bashar Al Assad has vowed to retake a rebel- held area that supplies Damascus with water and rejected any negotiations on his departure at talks this month in Kazakhstan.

Millions of people have been without water for weeks after fighting damaged key infrastructure in the Wadi Barada region outside Damascus, the capital’s main water source.

The government says former Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fatah Al Sham, known previously as Jabhat Al Nusra, is present in Wadi Barada, and blames rebels there for cutting water to Damascus since December 22.

“The role of the Syrian army is to liberate that area to prevent those terrorists from using that water to suffocate the capital,” Mr Al Assad said yesterday.

Syrian regime forces have been battling rebels in Wadi Barada for weeks and the fighting has continued despite the start on December 30 of a nationwide ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.

Mr Al Assad said the ceasefire was being “breached on a daily basis” and mainly around Damascus “because the terrorists occupy the main source of water” in Wadi Barada. The president said “more than five million civilians have been deprived of water for the last three weeks” as a result of the fighting.

The United Nations says 5.5 million people in and around Damascus are without water.

Rebels deny that Jabhat Fatah Al Sham are in the area and say the water supply was severed after government air strikes hit pumping facilities.

Yesterday, regime forces and Hizbollah fighters clashed with rebels and some Fatah Al Sham militants in the Wadi Barada area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Mr Al Assad also rejected any negotiations regarding his departure from power at talks scheduled for the end of this month in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.

“My position is related to the constitution, and the constitution is very clear about the mechanism in which you can bring a president or get rid of a president,” he said.

“So, if they [ the opposition] want to discuss this point, they have to discuss the constitution, and the constitution is not owned by the government or the president or by the opposition.

“It should be owned by the Syrian people, so you need a referendum.”

The Astana talks – organised by regime allies Russia and Iran, and rebels supporter Turkey – aim to pave the way towards an end to the nearly six-year war that has killed 310,000 people and displaced millions.

Mr Al Assad said Syrian forces were on their way to victory after they recaptured the northern city of Aleppo on December 22 with Moscow and Tehran’s support.

Since the conflict began with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011, Syria’s uprising has evolved into a complex war involving many players. On Sunday, commandos from the US- led coalition battling ISIL raided a village held by the extremists in eastern Syria, the US- backed Syrian Democratic Forces said.