Thursday, July 5, 2012

Syrian President Assad Hints That He Is Willing To Step Aside

Assad told Cumhuriyet that Turkish PM Recep Erdogan's sectarianism strained the two leaders' relations [Reuters]

Facing Diplomatic Isolation, Syria’s Assad Says He’s Willing To Step Aside -- McClatchy News

ISTANBUL — After losing his most important supporters outside Syria, President Bashar al Assad said his office “doesn’t mean anything to me” and he’s willing to give up it up, though preferably after national elections.

“If the president’s departure is in the interest of Syria, the president should naturally go. This is self-evident,” he told the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet. “You should never stay in office one day if the people do not want you; and the elections are the means through which the people show whether they want you or not.”

Read more ....

My Comment
: I am very skeptical that he is sincere in "stepping aside". To begin with .... where would he go? He cannot stay in Syria .... too much blood has already been shed. If there is a country that will accept him .... it will probably be Iran .... but and I suspect that they would be doing it reluctantly. On top of that .... I doubt that his wife would entertain the idea of spending the rest of her life living in some Iranian version of a burka.This is a fight to the finish .... and it will end when Assad is either killed .... or he takes that last plane out of Damascus to Iran.

1 comment:

D.Plowman said...

I totally agree with your assessment of it.

Assad is nothing but a complete and utter loolah. He's demented with holding onto whatever power he has left. This is clear in any interview he gives or any quote that comes from him directly. He says one thing, contradicts himself in another. He once said in a televised interview that he isn't 'the commander-in-chief' and does not issue orders to the Syrian military.

This sums up his insanity quite nicely - "You should never stay in office one day if the people do not want you" ... Using that logic, he should have left office the first week of unrest!