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Assad says he can form new Syria government with opposition

30 March 2016 18:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. President Bashar al-Assad said it would not be difficult to agree a new Syrian government including opposition figures, but his opponents responded on Wednesday that no administration would be legitimate while he remained in office, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Assad, bolstered by military victory in the desert city of Palmyra, was quoted by Russia's RIA news agency as saying a new draft constitution could be ready in weeks and a government that included opposition, independents and loyalists could be agreed.

While the distribution of portfolios and other technical issues would need to be discussed at Geneva peace talks, which resume next month, "these are not difficult questions", Assad said.

Opposition negotiators immediately dismissed Assad's remarks, saying that a political settlement could only be reached by establishing a transitional body with full powers, not a government under Assad.

"The government, whether it's new or old, as long as it is in the presence of Bashar al-Assad, is not part of the political process," said George Sabra of the High Negotiations Committee. "What Bashar al-Assad is talking about has no relation to the political process."

Syria's crisis erupted five years ago with protests against Assad which were put down with force. It descended into a civil war which has killed more than 250,000, drawn in global military powers and helped Islamic State establish its self-declared caliphate. Nearly 5 million refugees have been driven abroad

At a conference in Geneva, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on countries to resettle nearly half a million Syrian refugees in the next three years.

"This demands an exponential increase in global solidarity," he said, though his appeal won immediate responses from only three countries - Italy, Sweden and the United States.

Assad told RIA the war had cost more than $200 billion in economic losses and damage to infrastructure. That is in line with a U.N.-backed body which estimates physical damage at $90 billion, with an additional $169 billion of accumulated losses from a collapse in GDP to less than half the 2011 level.