DAMASCUS — Pressure mounted Tuesday on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to respond to a surprise offer of talks by his main political opponents, but a pro-regime daily said the initiative came two years too late. Assad himself has yet to comment on the offer from Ahmed Moaz Al-Khatib, leader of the opposition National Coalition who Monday told Al-Jazeera television “the ball is now in the regime's court. They will either say yes or no”. He was following up on his announcement last week that he was ready for talks with Assad's regime — subject to conditions, including the release of 160,000 detainees — on ending the conflict that has ravaged Syria for nearly 23 months. Khatib later elaborated, telling Al-Arabiya television he was ready to meet Assad's deputy, Vice President Farouq Al-Shar'aa. In the past the opposition has demanded Assad step down before talks can begin but analysts say Khatib's change in stance stems from a belief the population will be bled dry while the West fails to act. Experts have also predicted Damascus would reject outright Khatib's overture, and hinting at this, the pro-regime Al-Watan newspaper said Tuesday that Khatib's offer came too late. Washington gave strong backing to Khatib's call for dialogue. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said if the Syrian regime is interested in peace “it should sit down and talk now with the... Coalition, and we would strongly support Al-Khatib in that call.” But the US position remained unchanged on bringing to account those, on both sides, who have committed atrocities, she stressed. Assad last month announced he was ready for talks with the opposition but ruled out meeting groups such as the National Coalition, which backs rebels seeking to overthrow his regime. Fresh violence, meanwhile, erupted in the northern city of Aleppo where rebels clashed with troops near an army barracks, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Army tanks also shelled the districts of Qadam and Assali on the outer edges of Damascus, the Britain-based watchdog added. — Agencies
