MESOP Syria Daily: Regime “No Discussions About Assad’s Future”

By Scott Lucas March 20, 2014 07:15 Updated  – eaworldview – Syria’s regime has drawn a line against any political talks that include discussion of President Assad stepping aside. Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad told The Wall Street Journal, “The issue of [Assad] relinquishing power is now behind us and this is a flagrant interference in Syria’s internal affairs. This is completely finished and we are not ready to discuss it at all, at all.”

Discussions in Geneva in January and February between the regime and opposition could not even agree on an agenda. The Assad delegation rejected any item about a transitional governing authority, saying the focus must be on confronting “terrorism” — its term for the Syrian insurgency.

The regime is planning a Presidential election in the spring to confirm Assad’s stay in power.

Mikdad also insisted that the regime’s failure to meet deadlines on the handover of chemical weapons stocks must not be manipulated:

We hope this issue won’t be politicized. It’s purely technical.

I affirm that the Syrian chemicals weapons program is finished, it’s behind us, this program no longer exists because we have destroyed all manufacturing capabilities and many production sites and all that’s left are some facilities that we will agree upon.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Wednesday that 45% of Syria’s chemical weapons stocks had been moved to the port of Latakia for destruction at sea.

The regime, blaming issues of security, has missed a series of deadlines for the handover, including the destruction of 90% of the chemical weapons by the end of January. All stocks are supposed to be out of Syria by the end of June.