Syria's Assad signals little hope for alliance against Islamic State
BEIRUT - Syrian President Bashar Assad said he was open to the idea of a coalition against Islamic State but indicated there was little chance of it happening with his enemies, casting further doubt on a Russian plan to forge an alliance against the militant group.
The initiative proposed by Russia, a vital ally of Assad, would involve the Syrian government joining regional states that have backed Syrian rebels in a shared fight against the Islamic State group that controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq.
In an interview broadcast on Tuesday, Assad said the Syrian government would not reject such an alliance, though it made no sense "that states which stood with terrorism would be the states that will fight terrorism".
He was referring to governments including Turkey and Saudi Arabia that have backed insurgent groups fighting to topple him in the brutal four-year-long civil war that has killed an estimated 250,000 people and shattered the country.
