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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Assad: Quitting not up for debate | Assad: Quitting not up for debate |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he has no intention of quitting, and the issue is not up for discussion at peace talks starting on Wednesday. | |
| "If we wanted to surrender we would have surrendered from the start," Mr Assad told Russian MPs in Damascus, according to Interfax news agency. | "If we wanted to surrender we would have surrendered from the start," Mr Assad told Russian MPs in Damascus, according to Interfax news agency. |
| The government, opposition groups and Western diplomats will take part in the peace talks in Switzerland. | |
| More than 100,000 have been killed and millions displaced in Syria's conflict. | More than 100,000 have been killed and millions displaced in Syria's conflict. |
| Opposition groups have previously demanded the removal of Mr Assad as a condition of any discussions on a possible transitional government. | Opposition groups have previously demanded the removal of Mr Assad as a condition of any discussions on a possible transitional government. |
| But the Syrian National Coalition, the exiled opposition body, announced on Saturday that it would attend the talks. | |
| The decision was praised by the US which, with Russia and the UN, is taking a leading role in organising the negotiations. | |
| The path to the talks began in May last year when US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed to try to bring both sides together. | |
| Later, the UN Security Council called for a conference to implement the Geneva communique - a deal on a transitional government agreed at a UN-backed meeting in 2012. | |
| Damascus agreed to take part in the talks, but said its delegation would pursue "first and foremost eliminating terrorism". | |
| Correspondents say that such irreconcilable aims between the government and opposition are likely to hamper any chance of a deal at the forthcoming meeting. |