Syria Opp. Urged to Come to Terms with Al-Assad’s Survival

Local Editor

As Damascus reverses military losses in much of the country's strategically important west, and foreign states cut support for militant groups, diplomats from Washington to Riyadh are asking representatives of Syria's opposition to come to terms with President Bashar al-Assad's political survival.

Such move represents a major shift in the strategies of Western and regional supporters of Syrian opposition groups and militants with regard to the developments in Syria.

Meanwhile, former US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, who is widely considered as Washington's war engineer in different parts of the world and a key instigator of the Syrian conflict in 2011, ruled out the likelihood of al-Assad's removal, saying, "There is no conceivable military alignment that is going to be able to remove him."

"Everyone, including the US, has recognized that al-Assad is staying," said Ford, who is currently a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.

The Syrian government is currently in control of most of the populated west, while Daesh and al-Qaeda Takfiri terrorists, US-backed Kurds and Turkey-backed militants control the remaining pockets in the north, east and south.

Meanwhile, violence has significantly decreased in de-escalation zones where over 2.5 million people live, including the southern provinces of Dara'a, Quneitra, Suwayda, the northwestern province of Idlib, parts of the central province of Homs and the terrorist-controlled Eastern Ghouta Province near Damascus.

Source: AP, Edited by website team