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| Syria conflict: Bashar al-Assad vows to retake whole country | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that he intends to retake "the whole country". | |
| In a rare interview, he told AFP news agency that defeating rebels could take some time because of the involvement of regional powers. | |
| It came after world powers agreed to push for a cessation of hostilities in a week's time. | It came after world powers agreed to push for a cessation of hostilities in a week's time. |
| Earlier, the UN said it hoped to start delivering aid to some besieged areas in Syria within the next 24 hours. | |
| Mr Assad said he would continue to fight "terrorism" during any international peace process. | |
| More than 250,000 people have been killed and some 11 million displaced in almost five years of fighting in Syria. | |
| Some Syrian cities have been cut off from humanitarian aid for over a year because of fighting. About 13.5 million people are in need of aid, the UN says. | |
| Mr Assad was speaking in Damascus on Thursday, ahead of the deal on the cessation of hostilities, agreed in Munich late on Thursday night. | |
| He said government forces would try to retake all of Syria "without any hesitation", but that the involvement of regional powers meant that "the solution will take a long time and will incur a heavy price". | |
| Mr Assad rejected recent accusations by the UN that his government was guilty of war crimes. | |
| Earlier this month, UN human rights investigators said the Syrian government had carried out a state policy of extermination against thousands of detainees. | |
| In a report for the UN Human Rights Council, they accused the Syrian government of crimes against humanity. The report also said government and rebel forces had committed possible war crimes. | |
| But Mr Assad called the accusations "politicised" and said the investigators had provided no evidence. | |
| Meanwhile, a new UN task force to co-ordinate the distribution of aid is expected to convene in Geneva later on Friday. | |
| "The UN system has been geared to deliver this aid all along, especially to besieged areas, and that's precisely what's going to be discussed today: how to start, and when to start," UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said. | |
| "We hope to start as early as tomorrow, immediately after the meeting, decisions will be taken to roll the aid in, especially to besieged areas that need it", he added. |