US envoy sees no role for Assad in Syria solution

Doha: President Barack Obama`s envoy charged with building the coalition against the Islamic State said on Wednesday President Bashar al-Assad should have no role in any long term solution to Syria`s conflict.

Retired Marine General John Allen added in remarks to a conference in Qatar that there was a "very energetic" discussion among a number of countries about how to bring about a political transition in Damascus, but that such a solution would not include Assad, who has been fighting Islamist and other rebels since 2011.