Syria's Assad 'will take part' in 2014 presidential poll

Source: Agence France Presse

Bashar al-Assad will take part in Syria's next presidential election in 2014, the foreign minister of close Damascus ally Iran said on Saturday.

"In the next election, President Assad, like others, will take part, and the Syrian people will elect whomever they want," Ali Akbar Salehi said at a press conference with his visiting Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Muallem.

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On Saturday, Salehi also said that "the official position of Iran is that... Assad will remain the legitimate president until the next... election" in 2014.

Muallem arrived on Saturday in Tehran for talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year conflict in Syria that the United Nations says has killed at least 70,000 people and is tearing the country apart.


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