Accusations: Syrian troops take control of a village in Homs province. Forces loyal to President Assad have been implicated in atrocities in the city of Homs.

Accusations: Syrian troops take control of a village in Homs province. Forces loyal to President Assad have been implicated in atrocities in the city of Homs. Photo: AFP

BEIRUT: President Bashar Assad of Syria, in a rare interview with a foreign newspaper, appeared to dismiss the possibility of serious progress arising from peace talks planned for next month, and to back away from earlier statements by Syrian officials that the government was willing to negotiate with its armed opponents.

"We do not believe that many Western countries really want a solution in Syria," Mr Assad told Argentina's Clarin newspaper, blaming those countries for supporting "terrorists" fighting his government.

"We support and applaud the efforts but we must be realistic," he said, referring to efforts by the United States and Russia to broker talks in June. "There cannot be a unilateral solution in Syria; two parties are needed at least."

Mr Assad took a hard line throughout the interview, according to a transcript in English provided to The New York Times. He said he would run for election as scheduled in 2014 and would accept election monitors only from friendly countries such as Russia and China.

He also accused Israel of directly aiding rebels by providing intelligence on sites to attack, refused to acknowledge any mistakes in his handling of the two-year-old crisis, and disputed United Nations estimates that more than 80,000 people had died in the conflict.

All those contentions are likely to fuel what is already widespread pessimism about the potential talks. It is unclear who will talk to whom, and about what. The opposition in exile remains unable to unify fragmented rebel groups behind its political leadership, even those that nominally fall under the umbrella of the opposition's Free Syrian Army, let alone the growing cadres of extremist Islamist fighters who openly reject the opposition leadership.

Mr Assad's supporters have long contended that his wide array of foreign foes, including the US, Israel and Sunni-led Persian Gulf states, benefit less from a resolution than from a prolonged Syrian conflict that weakens Mr Assad and his allies, Iran and the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah. That view is increasingly shared by some rebel leaders, frustrated by the West's unwillingness to give them untrammelled support.

Mr Assad's opponents inside and outside Syria widely doubt that he is willing to make meaningful concessions – doubts he reinforced in the interview.

"We are willing to talk to anyone who wants to talk, without exceptions," he said. "But that does not include terrorists; no state talks to terrorists. When they put down their arms and join the dialogue then we will have no objections. Believing that a political conference will stop terrorism on the ground is unreal."

Opposition activists in Syria said on Saturday that government forces had killed and then incinerated at least 17 people in a two-day operation in Homs, Syria's third-largest city and long a hotbed of the insurgency.

Some died when government forces shelled the fields surrounding the neighbourhood of Al Waer, starting on Friday, and others were stabbed to death, said the Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition news network with contacts in Syria. The bodies were later set on fire by soldiers and pro-government militias, the activists said. 

The accounts could not be independently confirmed, but videos posted on YouTube and Facebook groups controlled by rebels showed charred bodies and shattered limbs, wrapped in red cloths and carpets.

''They were found dead and burned,'' said Abu Rami, an activist from Homs reached through Skype. ''We could only recognise nine men, but the rest were like black logs.''

Other residents said 10 of the dead belonged to two families and included four women and two 11-year-old children.

New York Times