Syrian President Assad criticizes UK in Sunday Times interview

In the interview, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said would he negotiate with the opposition but would not step down, as the United Nations made high-level offers to mediate talks between the regime and rebels. However, Assad also said he would only talk with rebels who laid down their arms, making a distinction between the "political entities" he would engage with and "armed terrorists."

"We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms," Assad told The Sunday Times in a videotaped interview conducted last week at his Damascus residence, the Al-Muhajireen palace. "We can engage in dialogue with the opposition, but we cannot engage in dialogue with terrorists."

The conflict in Syria has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives in the two years since protests against Assad's regime were first violently suppressed and a civil war ensued. In the interview, Assad rejected the idea that the fighting revolved around his role as president.

‘Britain... determined to militarize the problem'

Some of his harshest criticism was aimed at the government of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who Assad said could not play a "constructive" role in ending the conflict. Britain has long called for Assad to step down and also lobbied for the European Union to lift its embargo on arms supplies to rebels. In February, the EU ultimately extended the embargo on arms to both sides in Syria's conflict for a further three months.

"How can we expect to ask Britain to play a role while it's determined to militarize the problem?" Assad told the newspaper. "How can you ask them to play a role in making the situation better, more stable? How can we expect them to make the violence less when they want to send the military supply to the terrorists?"

Assad's offer of negotiations came as UN chief Ban Ki-moon and peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said they were prepared to broker peace talks between the regime and the opposition. A joint statement by the pair said the UN would "be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between a strong and representative delegation from the opposition and a credible and empowered delegation from the Syrian government".

The UN had previously said that both sides in Syria had indicated a "willingness to engage in dialogue."

Ban and Brahimi also warned that both the regime and opposition fighters "have become increasingly reckless with human life" and said perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity on both sides should be brought to justice.

Still, despite the potential for negotiations, Assad said he would not bow to international pressure: "The Syrians are the only ones who can tell the president to stay or to leave," Assad told The Sunday Times.

mkg/msh (AFP, AP, dpa)