20/09/2013 10:48
Syria crisis: Minister says civil war has reached stalemate
Syria's deputy prime minister says the civil war has reached stalemate with neither side strong enough to win, the BBC reported.
Qadri Jamil told the UK's Guardian newspaper that at proposed peace talks in Geneva, Damascus would call for a ceasefire with the armed opposition.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says Mr Jamil seems to be reflecting a drive by Russia to prepare for peace talks.
Meanwhile, the US has called on the UN Security Council to act over Syria's chemical weapons.
Secretary of State John Kerry called on the council to pass a "binding resolution" when it meets next week.
Mr Jamil told the Guardian that the Syrian economy had suffered catastrophic losses in the civil war that began in early 2011.
More than 100,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the UN, and millions have fled the country or been made homeless.
"Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," he said.
"This zero balance of forces will not change for a while."
Mr Jamil insisted that he was speaking for the government.
He said that if the long-delayed Geneva peace talks are revived the government would propose a ceasefire monitored by troops from neutral or friendly countries.
This, he said, would pave the way for a peaceful political process free from outside interference.
Nobody should fear, he added, that the regime in its current form would continue.
"For all practical purposes the regime in its previous form has ended. In order to realise our progressive reforms we need the West and all those who are involved in Syria to get off our shoulders," he said.