Syrian opposition leader ready to hold talks with Assad

London: Syrian National Coalition leader Moaz Alkhatib has said that he was willing to hold talks with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in a bid to end a bloody civil war that has killed over 60,000 people.

Alkhatib said in a statement published on his Facebook page that the aim of the talks would be to find a way for Assad to leave power with the ‘minimum of bloodshed and destruction’. The moderate cleric from Damascus made his offer as opposition activists reported fighting had moved closer to central Damascus, following a rebel push into the east of the capital last week, the Telegraph reports. According to the paper, Alkhatib is willing to hold talks in rebel-held areas of northern Syria. Alkhatib last month offered to hold talks with Assad’s ceremonial deputy Farouq al-Shara about an exit for Assad if the authorities started releasing tens of thousands of political prisoners jailed since the eruption of the 22-month uprising. ANI