A Syrian man walks with his son amid damaged buildings in the Marj al-Sultan neighbourhood east of the capital Damascus on Oct. 25, 2015. Earlier in the day Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country must "eradicate terrorism" to find a political solution to its civil war, as he reportedly expressed a willingness to hold new elections.AMER ALMOHIBANY/AFP / Getty Images
President Bashar al-Assad is willing to run in an early presidential election, hold parliamentary elections and discuss constitutional changes, but only after the defeat of "terrorist" groups, Russian lawmakers said after meeting with the Syrian leader on Sunday.
The meeting came as Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey were discussing new ideas for a political transition to end Syria's nearly five-year civil war, which has killed 250,000 people and displaced half the country's population.
The Western-backed Syrian opposition and other insurgent groups have refused to back any plan that does not include Mr. al-Assad's exit from power, and were unlikely to view any elections held by his government as legitimate. The Syrian government considers the entire armed opposition to be "terrorists."
"This is all political equivocation," Munzer Akbik, a member of the main opposition Syrian National Council, told the Associated Press. "There is no sense in talking about elections now before a real transition of power."
Russian lawmaker Alexander Yushchenko told the Tass news agency that Mr. al-Assad is ready to hold parliamentary elections "on the basis of all political forces that want Syria's prosperity." He said Mr. al-Assad is also ready to discuss constitutional reform and, if necessary, hold presidential elections, but only "after the victory over terrorism."
Mr. al-Assad won re-election more than a year ago by a landslide in a vote dismissed as a sham by his opponents. Voting did not take place in areas controlled by the opposition, excluding millions of voters. Mr. al-Assad's term expires in 2021.
Sergei Gavrilov, another Russian lawmaker, told Tass that Mr. al-Assad was ready to hold parliamentary elections that included "reasonable, patriotic opposition forces." Parliament's term expires in May, 2016.
The latest push for a diplomatic solution to the conflict comes in the wake of Russia's military intervention, which Moscow says is aimed at helping the Assad government defeat the Islamic State group and other "terrorists."
But most of Russia's air strikes have focused on areas where IS militants do not have a major presence, and have enabled a multipronged government ground offensive backed by Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militia and Iran's Revolutionary Guard against other insurgent groups.
Mr. al-Assad told the Russian delegation that Moscow's entry into the conflict is "the writing of a new history" and will determine the future of the region and the world, Syria's state-run SANA news agency said.
It quoted Mr. al-Assad as saying the eradication of terrorist groups would lead to a political solution that "pleases the Syrian people and maintains Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."
After first questioning the presence of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and calling it a "phantom structure," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday that Moscow is ready to aid the group in its fight against IS militants. The FSA is an amalgam of rebel groups, some headed by defectors from the Syrian army, and includes factions armed and trained by the CIA and others backed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Two rebel members, including a commander of a CIA-backed group, said representatives of the Russian government have reached out to them to arrange for meetings. Mr. Akbik, the opposition politician, confirmed he had learned of such communications.
Jamil al-Saleh, leader of the CIA-backed Tajammu Alezzah, which has been targeted by Russian air strikes since the start of the campaign in central Hama province, said a man introducing himself as a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry called him last week to ask for a meeting with Russian officials in a friendly country. Mr. al-Saleh said the go-between said the meeting was to co-ordinate and prepare for the future.
Mr. al-Saleh said he had rejected the Russian overture outright and informed his backers, apparently referring to the United States and other governments in the region. Another rebel member, Abu Jad, who mediates for various FSA factions and is based in Turkey, said a similar contact was established in the early days of the air strikes. He said he has been consulting with the factions, but that he asked the go-between for an end to Russian strikes on FSA positions before such a meeting can be held.
FSA commander Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmed Saoud scoffed at the suggestion, saying "Russia must first admit that the regime of Assad must go." Lt.-Col. Saoud said he had only heard of such Russian overtures through the media.
"What we care about is Assad leaving, not turning this from a war against the regime to a war against terrorism," Saoud, a former Syrian army officer who defected and now leads the rebel 13th Division group, told the AP. He added that Russia was still striking FSA positions.