Turkey will extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbours, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

Erdogan to invite Assad for talks to restore Turkey-Syria ties

Turkey & Syria to hit refresh button, Erdogan to invite Assad for talks to restore Syria-Turkey ties

Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Iranian leaders in Tehran, marking his second trip to major wartime ally Iran since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011.

Syrian President Bashar Assad meets Iran leaders in rare visit to Tehran

Bashar al-Assad's isolation is finally over.Gulf states are warming up to the leader and it looks like Syria is ready to be friends with the Arab world. On The West Asia Post, Ghadi Francis takes a look what led to this change.

The West Asia Post: Assad Is Friends With the Arab World Again

Chemical munitions experts have for years compiled information that Syria’s government has used these banned weapons against its own people, a war crime that so far has gone unpunished and been dismissed with a sneer by President Bashar Assad.

Now the first criminal inquiries that target Assad and his associates over the use of chemical weapons may soon get underway.

In a major step to hold Assad and his circle accountable for some of the worst atrocities committed in the decade-old Syria conflict, judges at a special war crimes unit in France’s palace of justice have received a complaint about chemical weapons attacks in Syria, filed by three international human rights groups.

The complaint, which lawyers said the judges would likely accept, requests a criminal investigation of Assad, his brother, Maher, and a litany of senior advisers and military officials that formed the chain of command.

Together with a similar complaint filed in Germany in October, the French complaint, submitted Monday and made public Tuesday, opens a new front aimed at ensuring that some form of justice for chemical weapons crimes is exacted on Assad and his hierarchy.

If nothing else, the criminal inquiries in France and Germany could vastly complicate the future for Assad, who has emerged largely victorious in the Syrian war, but with a pariah status that has blocked the international aid necessary to rebuild his country.

Getting such aid could become even more difficult if Assad and his upper echelons are defendants in prosecutions for war crimes in European courts, even if they consider such proceedings illegitimate. Nor are millions of Syrians who fled to Europe and elsewhere as refugees likely to return home.

Steve Kostas, the senior lawyer of the group that filed the complaints in France, said it focused on the August 2013 events in the city of Douma and the region of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus — coordinated attacks that the U.S. government said killed more than 1,400 people, making them the world’s deadliest use of chemical weapons in this century.

The victims of those assaults, who inhaled sarin nerve agent or chlorine fumes from bombs, are only a small proportion of the estimated 400,000 people killed since the Syria war began in March 2011.

More than 300 chemical weapons attacks in Syria have been documented by experts, including photographs and videos of adults and children, seized by convulsions, gasping for air and often suffocating.

Many of these images have been publicized and shocked the world. To date, no one has had to answer for them.

“We want the French to conduct an independent investigation and ultimately to issue arrest warrants against those who bear responsibility for these crimes against civilians,’’ said Kostas, a senior lawyer with the Open Society Justice Initiative who is based in London.

‘’We know high-level perpetrators will not be arrested soon,’’ he said.

But cases must be built now, he said, to ensure prosecutions in the future.

The other two groups participating are Syrian Archive, a documentation center in Berlin, and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, based in Paris.

Among the witnesses they can bring, they say, are not only survivors of attacks but also former members of the government who have been linked to the banned chemical arms arsenal or have knowledge of its workings.

The filing comes amid speculation over moves by some countries to seek closer ties with Damascus, an informal recognition that Assad has not been defeated. There has also been talk of planning a reconstruction phase, which would yield important contracts and facilitate the return of refugees.

But Western countries, even those who have taken in significant numbers of refugees, are adamant that impunity for the crimes is not an option for any future peace deal or normalization. Until now, only limited steps have been taken toward holding any senior Syrians accountable.

Russia and China have blocked the road to the International Criminal Court for any prosecution of Syrian atrocities by using their veto in the U.N. Security Council, which could grant ICC jurisdiction.

“After 10 years and all these crimes, there’s no reaction from the international community, so the victims themselves are trying to knock on all doors,” said Mazen Darwish, an activist and former prisoner from Syria who founded the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.

“People are dying every day,” he said.

In the absence of any international court that has jurisdiction over Syrian crimes, a patchwork of efforts for accountability has been underway for some time. Several countries, including Germany, Sweden and France, are prosecuting or have already convicted individuals found among Europe’s many Syrian refugees.

They have mostly been low-level members of the Islamic State group or of the Syrian security forces, accused of human rights abuses.

But the complaint filed in Paris, and a similar one filed by the same group in Germany, is aiming for the first time for the top tier of the Syrian government over the chemical weapons issue — both for past attacks and what the complaints call a secretive program that flagrantly flouts international law.

The group’s complaint in Germany was submitted in October before the federal public prosecutor in Karlsruhe. It focuses on the sarin nerve agent attack in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and in the rebel-held village of Khan Sheikhoun in 2017.

Both France and Germany accept a form of universal jurisdiction, which grants their national courts the power to prosecute individuals accused of heinous offenses committed anywhere.

Kostas said France’s law on responsibility of corporations could also provide the justification to introduce evidence on companies that supplied chemicals and equipment to Syria for its banned chemical weapon arsenal.

The United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons conducted inquiries after the 2013 attack in Syria, but the evidence they amassed has never led to any accountability and never identified perpetrators by name.

The request for a criminal investigation is based partly on a two-year study of Syria’s chemical weapons program that goes beyond what other international inquires have done, Kostas said. The study relied on a multitude of sources, he said, including defectors, former insiders, employees, engineers and people linked directly or with knowledge of the program.

Gregory Koblentz, an expert in chemical and biological weapons and professor at George Mason University who reviewed the study, said that while there was much open source material, “it brings to light new information from defectors and insiders.”

Koblentz called it the “most comprehensive and detailed account of the Syrian weapons program available perhaps outside the intelligence services. It maps out new details on the chain of command and shows how large and complex this program was. And it can name names.”

The complaint filed in Paris also makes ample use of evidence from the Syria Archive, which has stored more than 3 million videos sent by activists from Syria. It also draws on data from the Global Public Policy Institute, a research group in Berlin.

Tobias Schneider, a researcher at the institute, said it had verified 349 attacks in the past decade, “significantly more than has been commonly known.” The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, by contrast, has studied only 39 attacks because of what the organization has described as limited resources.

Darwish, who spent three years imprisoned in Syria and now lives in Paris, said the fight against chemical weapons was more than just about the attacks in his country.

“If they’re not banished, no place will be safe,” he said. “What’s next? They could be used on the Champs-Élysées.”

Chemical munitions experts have for years compiled information that Syria’s government has used these banned weapons against its own people, a war crime that so far has gone unpunished and been dismissed with a sneer by President Bashar Assad.

Chemical munitions experts have for years compiled information that Syria’s government has used these banned weapons against its own people, a war crime that so far has gone unpunished and been dismissed with a sneer by President Bashar Assad. Now the first criminal inquiries that target Assad and his associates over the use of chemical weapons may soon get underway. In a major step to hold Assad and his circle accountable for some of the worst atrocities committed in the decade-old Syria conflict, judges at a special war crimes unit in France’s palace of justice have received a complaint about chemical weapons attacks in Syria, filed by three international human rights groups. The complaint, which lawyers said the judges would likely accept, requests a criminal investigation of Assad, his brother, Maher, and a litany of senior advisers and military officials that formed the chain of command. Together with a similar complaint filed in Germany in October, the French complaint, submitted Monday and made public Tuesday, opens a new front aimed at ensuring that some form of justice for chemical weapons crimes is exacted on Assad and his hierarchy. If nothing else, the criminal inquiries in France and Germany could vastly complicate the future for Assad, who has emerged largely victorious in the Syrian war, but with a pariah status that has blocked the international aid necessary to rebuild his country. Getting such aid could become even more difficult if Assad and his upper echelons are defendants in prosecutions for war crimes in European courts, even if they consider such proceedings illegitimate. Nor are millions of Syrians who fled to Europe and elsewhere as refugees likely to return home. Steve Kostas, the senior lawyer of the group that filed the complaints in France, said it focused on the August 2013 events in the city of Douma and the region of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus — coordinated attacks that the U.S. government said killed more than 1,400 people, making them the world’s deadliest use of chemical weapons in this century. The victims of those assaults, who inhaled sarin nerve agent or chlorine fumes from bombs, are only a small proportion of the estimated 400,000 people killed since the Syria war began in March 2011. More than 300 chemical weapons attacks in Syria have been documented by experts, including photographs and videos of adults and children, seized by convulsions, gasping for air and often suffocating. Many of these images have been publicized and shocked the world. To date, no one has had to answer for them. “We want the French to conduct an independent investigation and ultimately to issue arrest warrants against those who bear responsibility for these crimes against civilians,’’ said Kostas, a senior lawyer with the Open Society Justice Initiative who is based in London. ‘’We know high-level perpetrators will not be arrested soon,’’ he said. But cases must be built now, he said, to ensure prosecutions in the future. The other two groups participating are Syrian Archive, a documentation center in Berlin, and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, based in Paris. Among the witnesses they can bring, they say, are not only survivors of attacks but also former members of the government who have been linked to the banned chemical arms arsenal or have knowledge of its workings. The filing comes amid speculation over moves by some countries to seek closer ties with Damascus, an informal recognition that Assad has not been defeated. There has also been talk of planning a reconstruction phase, which would yield important contracts and facilitate the return of refugees. But Western countries, even those who have taken in significant numbers of refugees, are adamant that impunity for the crimes is not an option for any future peace deal or normalization. Until now, only limited steps have been taken toward holding any senior Syrians accountable. Russia and China have blocked the road to the International Criminal Court for any prosecution of Syrian atrocities by using their veto in the U.N. Security Council, which could grant ICC jurisdiction. “After 10 years and all these crimes, there’s no reaction from the international community, so the victims themselves are trying to knock on all doors,” said Mazen Darwish, an activist and former prisoner from Syria who founded the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. “People are dying every day,” he said. In the absence of any international court that has jurisdiction over Syrian crimes, a patchwork of efforts for accountability has been underway for some time. Several countries, including Germany, Sweden and France, are prosecuting or have already convicted individuals found among Europe’s many Syrian refugees. They have mostly been low-level members of the Islamic State group or of the Syrian security forces, accused of human rights abuses. But the complaint filed in Paris, and a similar one filed by the same group in Germany, is aiming for the first time for the top tier of the Syrian government over the chemical weapons issue — both for past attacks and what the complaints call a secretive program that flagrantly flouts international law. The group’s complaint in Germany was submitted in October before the federal public prosecutor in Karlsruhe. It focuses on the sarin nerve agent attack in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and in the rebel-held village of Khan Sheikhoun in 2017. Both France and Germany accept a form of universal jurisdiction, which grants their national courts the power to prosecute individuals accused of heinous offenses committed anywhere. Kostas said France’s law on responsibility of corporations could also provide the justification to introduce evidence on companies that supplied chemicals and equipment to Syria for its banned chemical weapon arsenal. The United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons conducted inquiries after the 2013 attack in Syria, but the evidence they amassed has never led to any accountability and never identified perpetrators by name. The request for a criminal investigation is based partly on a two-year study of Syria’s chemical weapons program that goes beyond what other international inquires have done, Kostas said. The study relied on a multitude of sources, he said, including defectors, former insiders, employees, engineers and people linked directly or with knowledge of the program. Gregory Koblentz, an expert in chemical and biological weapons and professor at George Mason University who reviewed the study, said that while there was much open source material, “it brings to light new information from defectors and insiders.” Koblentz called it the “most comprehensive and detailed account of the Syrian weapons program available perhaps outside the intelligence services. It maps out new details on the chain of command and shows how large and complex this program was. And it can name names.” The complaint filed in Paris also makes ample use of evidence from the Syria Archive, which has stored more than 3 million videos sent by activists from Syria. It also draws on data from the Global Public Policy Institute, a research group in Berlin. Tobias Schneider, a researcher at the institute, said it had verified 349 attacks in the past decade, “significantly more than has been commonly known.” The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, by contrast, has studied only 39 attacks because of what the organization has described as limited resources. Darwish, who spent three years imprisoned in Syria and now lives in Paris, said the fight against chemical weapons was more than just about the attacks in his country. “If they’re not banished, no place will be safe,” he said. “What’s next? They could be used on the Champs-Élysées.”

Criminal inquiries loom over Assad's use of chemical arms in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Syria on Tuesday and met with officials including President Bashar Assad.

Putin's West Asia tour; Meets Syrian Prez, Iran's key ally Assad

<a href="US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard officially declares 2020 presidential nomination">Democratic presidential aspirant and the first Hindu lawmaker in the Congress Tulsi Gabbard</a> has said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is "not the enemy" of the US and the war-torn country does not pose a "direct threat" to America.

Gabbard, 37, who recently announced her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, has previously been criticised for meeting with Assad in 2017. The Syrian leader is believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians in the ongoing brutal civil war.

"Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States," Gabbard, elected to the House of Representatives from Hawaii, said Wednesday on MSNBC.

When pressed over whether Assad, who has been accused of using chemical weapons on his own people over the course of a more than five-year civil war, is an adversary of the US, Gabbard said "you can describe it however you want to describe it.

My point is that whether it is Syria or any of these other countries, we need to look at how their interests are counter to or aligned with ours," she said.

When asked if she thought Assad was a good person, Gabbard said, "No, I don't," and asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was an adversary to the US, she responded, "Yes."

Gabbard has previously defended her 2017 meeting with Assad, saying American leaders must meet with foreign leaders "if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country."

She said last month that there is no possibility for a "viable" peace agreement in the war-torn country unless Assad is part of the conversation.

Democratic presidential aspirant and the first Hindu lawmaker in the Congress Tulsi Gabbard has said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is "not the enemy" of the US and the war-torn country does not pose a "direct threat" to America.

Democratic presidential aspirant and the first Hindu lawmaker in the Congress Tulsi Gabbard has said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is "not the enemy" of the US and the war-torn country does not pose a "direct threat" to America. Gabbard, 37, who recently announced her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, has previously been criticised for meeting with Assad in 2017. The Syrian leader is believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians in the ongoing brutal civil war. "Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States," Gabbard, elected to the House of Representatives from Hawaii, said Wednesday on MSNBC. When pressed over whether Assad, who has been accused of using chemical weapons on his own people over the course of a more than five-year civil war, is an adversary of the US, Gabbard said "you can describe it however you want to describe it. My point is that whether it is Syria or any of these other countries, we need to look at how their interests are counter to or aligned with ours," she said. When asked if she thought Assad was a good person, Gabbard said, "No, I don't," and asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was an adversary to the US, she responded, "Yes." Gabbard has previously defended her 2017 meeting with Assad, saying American leaders must meet with foreign leaders "if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country." She said last month that there is no possibility for a "viable" peace agreement in the war-torn country unless Assad is part of the conversation.

Syrian President Bashar Assad not enemy of US says Tulsi Gabbard

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Thursday and said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country.

A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi.

"After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists" the condition are in place for "the start of a political process on a major scale," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "there were detailed discussions" between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.&nbsp

"With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory," Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces.

Russia has been involved in Syria's civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Assad's regime but also changed the course of the war.

Putin also congratulated Assad on the "successes of the Syrian government's army in the fight against terrorist groups".

"The next task, of course, is the economic recovery and humanitarian aid for those people in a difficult situation," Putin added.

'Stability is improving'

The latest round of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana wrapped up on Tuesday&nbspbut did not,&nbsphowever, make any concrete progress towards ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives.

Russia, Iran and Turkey have been attempting to resolve the conflict in the talks that started last year in Astana in competition with a US and UN-backed Geneva initiative.

In a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad added on Thursday "we have evaluated the political process" and will select candidates for a constitutional committee, a suggestion proposed in January at a summit in Sochi, that will work with the United Nations.

According to the Kremlin statement, Assad said "stability is improving" in Syria, "opening the door to the political process we started some time ago".

"We know it will not be easy because some countries do not want stability to return to Syria. But with you and other partners and friends, we will continue to make strong progress in the peace process," Assad was quoted as saying in the statement.

"Thanks to military successes, we are managing to normalise the situation in the country, opening the way for the return of many of our compatriots." &nbsp&nbsp

Russian television broadcast short clips from the two men's discussion.&nbsp

Regime forces recaptured Ghouta from rebels last month after a ferocious offensive that displaced tens of thousands, both to government-controlled zones around Damascus and to opposition-held parts of northern Syria.

De Mistura, speaking Wednesday to the UN Security Council's monthly meeting on the Syria conflict, described what he called the classic Syrian regime tactic of a bombardment of a rebel territory followed by negotiations and then mass evacuations from the defeated area.

But the special envoy noted that half of the people in the northern rebel province of Idlib had already fled from other parts of Syria, "and will have nowhere else to go because there is no other place to go."

Putin and Assad met on the eve of a meeting in Sochi between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first face-to-face talk of the year between the veteran leaders.

The Russian President said the 'military success' in Syria allowed for a large-scale 'political process' leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Thursday and said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country. A day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people, Putin met Assad in the southern Russian city of Sochi. "After the success of the Syrian government army in the fight against the terrorists" the condition are in place for "the start of a political process on a major scale," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin following the meeting. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "there were detailed discussions" between the two leaders, who last met in December at a Russian military air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia. "With the start of the political process in its most active phase, foreign armed forces will withdraw from Syrian territory," Putin said, without specifying which foreign forces. Russia has been involved in Syria's civil war since September 2015. Its military support not only ensured the survival of Assad's regime but also changed the course of the war. Putin also congratulated Assad on the "successes of the Syrian government's army in the fight against terrorist groups". "The next task, of course, is the economic recovery and humanitarian aid for those people in a difficult situation," Putin added. 'Stability is improving' The latest round of Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana wrapped up on Tuesday&nbspbut did not,&nbsphowever, make any concrete progress towards ending the seven-year conflict that has cost 350,000 lives. Russia, Iran and Turkey have been attempting to resolve the conflict in the talks that started last year in Astana in competition with a US and UN-backed Geneva initiative. In a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad added on Thursday "we have evaluated the political process" and will select candidates for a constitutional committee, a suggestion proposed in January at a summit in Sochi, that will work with the United Nations. According to the Kremlin statement, Assad said "stability is improving" in Syria, "opening the door to the political process we started some time ago". "We know it will not be easy because some countries do not want stability to return to Syria. But with you and other partners and friends, we will continue to make strong progress in the peace process," Assad was quoted as saying in the statement. "Thanks to military successes, we are managing to normalise the situation in the country, opening the way for the return of many of our compatriots." Russian television broadcast short clips from the two men's discussion. Regime forces recaptured Ghouta from rebels last month after a ferocious offensive that displaced tens of thousands, both to government-controlled zones around Damascus and to opposition-held parts of northern Syria. De Mistura, speaking Wednesday to the UN Security Council's monthly meeting on the Syria conflict, described what he called the classic Syrian regime tactic of a bombardment of a rebel territory followed by negotiations and then mass evacuations from the defeated area. But the special envoy noted that half of the people in the northern rebel province of Idlib had already fled from other parts of Syria, "and will have nowhere else to go because there is no other place to go." Putin and Assad met on the eve of a meeting in Sochi between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the first face-to-face talk of the year between the veteran leaders.

Putin meets Assad, calls for 'political process' on Syria

The United States sees no place for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any peace resolution for the war-torn country, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday.

As the G7 called at a meeting in Italy for a diplomatic push to resolve the conflict and create a lasting peace for a unified Syria, Tillerson said: &quot;Our hope is Bashar al-Assad will not be part of that future.

&quot;The United States&#39; priority in Syria and Iraq remains the defeat of ISIS,&quot; he added, using a term for the so-called Islamic State (IS).

&quot;As events shift, the United States will continue to evaluate its strategic options and opportunities to de-escalate violence across Syria,&quot; added Tillerson, who was headed for crunch talks in Moscow after the &nbsp;meeting of G7 foreign ministers.

The United States launched a retaliatory bombing raid on a Syrian air base after a suspected chemical weapons attack last week on a rebel-held Syrian town that killed at least 87 civilians.

Washington and its allies are pushing for Russia to rein in the Syrian regime but the G7 ministers failed to agree on whether fresh sanctions should be imposed on Damascus and Moscow.

Tillerson repeated his accusation that Russia had &quot;failed to uphold the agreements that... stipulated Russia, as the guarantor of a Syria free of chemical weapons, would locate, secure, and destroy all such armaments in Syria&quot;.

As he headed to talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, he said it was &quot;unclear whether Russia failed to take this obligation seriously&quot; or had &quot;been simply incompetent&quot;. 
 
(AFP)

G7 ministers, meanwhile, failed to agree on whether fresh sanctions should be imposed on Syria and Russia

The United States sees no place for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in any peace resolution for the war-torn country, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday. As the G7 called at a meeting in Italy for a diplomatic push to resolve the conflict and create a lasting peace for a unified Syria, Tillerson said: "Our hope is Bashar al-Assad will not be part of that future. "The United States' priority in Syria and Iraq remains the defeat of ISIS," he added, using a term for the so-called Islamic State (IS). "As events shift, the United States will continue to evaluate its strategic options and opportunities to de-escalate violence across Syria," added Tillerson, who was headed for crunch talks in Moscow after the meeting of G7 foreign ministers. The United States launched a retaliatory bombing raid on a Syrian air base after a suspected chemical weapons attack last week on a rebel-held Syrian town that killed at least 87 civilians. Washington and its allies are pushing for Russia to rein in the Syrian regime but the G7 ministers failed to agree on whether fresh sanctions should be imposed on Damascus and Moscow. Tillerson repeated his accusation that Russia had "failed to uphold the agreements that... stipulated Russia, as the guarantor of a Syria free of chemical weapons, would locate, secure, and destroy all such armaments in Syria". As he headed to talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, he said it was "unclear whether Russia failed to take this obligation seriously" or had "been simply incompetent". (AFP)

No place for Assad in Syria's future: US amid G7 talks

The White House on Friday backed top aides&#39; comments that the United States is not now focussed on making Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leave power, saying the US&nbsp;focus is on defeating Islamic State militants.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday drew criticism for playing down a long-standing US goal of persuading Assad to leave power to help end the six-year-long Syrian civil war.

Tillerson said Assad&#39;s future is up to the Syrian people to decide, while Haley said &quot;our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out.&quot;

At his daily news briefing, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that regarding Assad, &quot;there is a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now.&quot;

Spicer blamed the inability of Trump&#39;s predecessor,&nbsp;Democrat Barack Obama, to persuade Assad to step down.

The Obama administration,&nbsp;in its later years, was focussed on reaching a deal with Russia that would eventually see Assad go,&nbsp;though it also shifted its focus to the fight against Islamic State militants, who captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

&quot;We had an opportunity and we need to focus now on defeating ISIS,&quot; Spicer said. &quot;The United States has profound priorities in Syria and Iraq and we&#39;ve made it clear that counterterrorism, particularly the defeat of ISIS, is foremost among those priorities.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

The White House said the US?focus is on defeating the Islamic State

The White House on Friday backed top aides' comments that the United States is not now focussed on making Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leave power, saying the US focus is on defeating Islamic State militants. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday drew criticism for playing down a long-standing US goal of persuading Assad to leave power to help end the six-year-long Syrian civil war. Tillerson said Assad's future is up to the Syrian people to decide, while Haley said "our priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out." At his daily news briefing, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that regarding Assad, "there is a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now." Spicer blamed the inability of Trump's predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, to persuade Assad to step down. The Obama administration, in its later years, was focussed on reaching a deal with Russia that would eventually see Assad go, though it also shifted its focus to the fight against Islamic State militants, who captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. "We had an opportunity and we need to focus now on defeating ISIS," Spicer said. "The United States has profound priorities in Syria and Iraq and we've made it clear that counterterrorism, particularly the defeat of ISIS, is foremost among those priorities." (AFP)

White House backs Nikki Haley, says US has to accept political reality of Syrian president

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