US Secretary of State John Kerry admits Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is making gains on the ground, but denies US policy in Syria was failing.
“It’s fair to say that Assad has improved his position a little bit, yes. But he’s still not winning. This is a stalemate,” Kerry told CNN television in an interview.
He was adamant, however, that America’s policy had not failed in the war-torn country, despite a mounting death toll in the three-year conflict.
“The policy in Syria is just very challenging and very difficult,” Kerry added.
Earlier this week, the State Department denied reports Kerry told US lawmakers in a private meeting that it was time to change strategy in Syria, where some 136,000 people have died and millions have fled their homes.
“I don’t want to make any excuse whatsoever. We want this to move faster. We want it to do better,” Kerry said.
“But the point I’m making is that diplomacy is tough, slogging, slow work and hard work.”
January marked the deadliest month so far in the conflict with some 6,000 dead, and Kerry said the United States was “always in the process of re-evaluating whether there’s more we can do, should do.”
US President Barack Obama has so far refused to provide heavy weaponry to the moderate rebels battling to topple Assad, amid fears it could fall into the hands of militant groups flooding into the country.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/02/06/syrias-assad-making-gains-kerry-admits
