In an interview with Italy’s Rai News 24, Assad ruled out talks with any al-Qaeda-aligned groups, which have become some of the most lethal and well-organized foes of the regime. “We cannot discuss with al-Qaeda offshoots and organizations that are affiliated with al-Qaeda,” said Assad.

While the exclusion of extremist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant may not come as a surprise, he didn’t just draw the line there. In an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV, Syria’s foreign minister rejected any negotiations with the Western-backed opposition group Syrian National Coalition due to its support for a U.S. military strike. “[The SNC] is not popular in Syria and lost a lot among Syrians when it called on the U.S. to attack Syria militarily, meaning that it called for attacking the Syrian people,” said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. He noted that there are other members of the opposition that should be represented at the talks “but not the coalition.” …

“Assad is precluding almost all interlocutors with these sweeping preconditions,” Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Oklahoma University, tells The Cable. “He has named the select groups that he believes are the appropriate opposition, which are seen to be stooges of his government by much of the opposition.”