In an interview with Iran's Khabar television station, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he has no plans to negotiate with Western-backed groups opposed to his government and said his only option now is to "destroy terrorism."
"Implementing any solution or any political ideas that might be agreed on will need a state of stability," he said, as reported by the SANA news agency Sunday. "Otherwise it has no value. Consequently, destroying terrorism is the foundation of any action in Syria. Political ideas can be implemented later." Assad usually describes any of the government's armed opponents as "terrorists," The Washington Post reports. "Terrorists do not fight for political reform," he said. "They fight because they want money or because they have a perverted doctrine, or because they want to have a role in a state that becomes another state's client." Western officials, he added, are "in a state of confusion and their vision lacks clarity."
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