DAMASCUS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday that his country needs a transparent dialogue between the Syrians, stressing that no one but the Syrian people are capable of finding a solution to the 28-month-old crisis.
Assad made the remarks during an iftar banquet held in the capital Damascus with the participation of a number of society groups and key ministers of his government.
While stressing the need for dialogue as a way out of the current crisis, the embattled leader said that terrorism in Syria cannot be solved with politics. "No sane person thinks that he can handle terrorism with politics."
Assad also lashed out at the Syrian opposition groups, mostly the one in exile, accusing it of not wanting a political solution.
"The overseas opposition doesn't even represent themselves... they represent the countries that support them," Assad said, adding that his administration has agreed to take part in the Geneva conference despite the fact that the opposition has no real representation.
"If we want to get out of the crisis, there should be no exception to any means that could help us," he noted.
He projected the status quo as a confrontation between the homeland and the outlaws.
"All methods have been tried and there is nothing left but to defend ourselves by our hands," he said, likening the armed rebels to "monsters."
Hailing the Syrian army, the president said what have been carried out by the army over the past two years is "unbelievable."
DAMASCUS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 12 rebels and 19 regular troops were killed Sunday, as a result of clashes in Syria 's coastal Latakia province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The clashes at Jabal al-Akrad area have begun when the armed rebels unleashed wide-scale attacks against positions of the Syrian army at dawn Sunday, according to the Observatory. Full story
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