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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 22 november 2017
Syria in ruins but Assad’s hold on power looks firm

ing Assad out at this stage. tiator, Riyad Hijab, resigned
On the diplomatic front, Monday, complaining that
the top opposition support- foreign powers were carv-
ers, the United States and ing up Syria and broker-
its allies, long ago backed ing side deals to “prolong
off demands that any deal the life of Bashar Assad’s
involve Assad’s immedi- regime.” The opposition is
ate removal. Now they are meeting later the week in
pushing for a plan for elec- Saudi Arabia to come up
tions that could bring a with a unified delegation
new leader. and negotiating stance.
But Assad’s ally Russia now Saudi Arabia has already
dominates the negotiat- signaled to the opposition
ing process, meaning there it has to come to terms with
is little pressure on him to Assad’s survival.
accept real elections — Assad looks increasingly
or any election before his confident. On Monday,
term ends in 2021. A politi- he traveled to the Russian
cal solution under his terms city of Sochi for talks with
Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks to Syrian diplomats, in Damascus, Syria. Assad’s reputation would be to incorporate President Vladimir Putin. It
in the west is shattered, his nation is a smoldering ruin and around half the country is controlled by opposition members into a was only Assad’s second
domestic and foreign militias. But through it all, Assad appears to have survived the war, strangely national unity government trip outside his country
holding on to his seat in at least the near-term. under his leadership. since the conflict began in
(Syrian Presidency Facebook page via AP) Assad’s opposition is in dis- March 2011 — and the pre-
By ZEINA KARAM 7-year-old conflict. Barring coast. No force on the array. vious one was to Russia as
Associated Press any surprises, no negotiat- ground is capable of driv- The top opposition nego- well.q
BEIRUT (AP) — His nation is ed resolution is likely to lead
a smoldering ruin, much of to Assad’s ouster.
it held by rival armed fac- One reason is military.
tions, domestic or foreign. Assad’s forces have had
Half the population is dis- the momentum on the
placed, hundreds of thou- ground the past year,
sands have died and much backed by an overwhelm-
of the West regards him as ing Russian air campaign
a tyrant and human rights and fighters from Iran and
abuser. But Syrian President Hezbollah. Assad’s govern-
Bashar Assad appears to ment now controls more
have survived the war and than 50 percent of Syria.
is likely to hold onto power Holding half the country
for the foreseeable future. normally wouldn’t be an
The sides in Syria’s civil war optimistic sign, but that’s
are preparing for the eighth up from 19 percent earlier
round of U.N.-sponsored this year. His troops control
peace talks in Geneva in- Syria’s four largest cities,
tended to set a political 10 of its 14 provincial capi-
transition to end the nearly tals and its Mediterranean

Russia confirms spike in

radioactivity in the Urals

By N. VASILYEVA Russian authorities insisted,
Associated Press however, that the amount
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian of Ruthenium posed no
authorities on Tuesday con- health risks.
firmed reports of a spike in France’s nuclear safety
radioactivity in the air over agency earlier this month
the Ural Mountains while said that it recorded ra-
the suspected culprit, a nu- dioactivity in the area be-
clear fuel processing plant, tween the Volga River and
denied it was the source of the Ural Mountains from
contamination. a suspected accident in-
The Russian Meteorological volving nuclear fuel or the
Service said in a statement production of radioactive
Tuesday that it record- material.
ed the release of Ruthe- It said the release of the
nium-106 in the southern isotope Ruthenium-106
Urals in late September and posed no health or envi-
classified it as “extremely ronmental risks to European
high contamination.” countries.q