- A member of Bashar al-Assad's government declares the rebellion has failed
- The rebels' vow to take Damascus hasn't materialized, deputy foreign minister says
- However, battles continue in the capital's southern suburbs
- Faisal al-Maqdad says the al-Assad regime would welcome negotiations
Damascus, Syria (CNN) -- As both sides in Syria's bloody civil war claimed advances, one high-ranking member of President Bashar al-Assad's regime expressed confidence in ultimate victory.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Maqdad, in an interview Wednesday, said the battle is going very well for the regime.
"We are winning. We have already won," al-Maqdad told CNN's Frederik Pleitgen. "You are in Damascus, you are aware of what is happening around Damascus. (The rebels) threatened to have Damascus more than one year ago, and they are not there. We are still here."
Rebel leaders and fighters see it differently.
A suicide attack at a regime military facility left at least 20 soldiers dead this week in Homs, and just last week government forces were using artillery and planes against rebels in the capital's southern suburbs.
Syrian rebels fire a rocket toward regime troops stationed at Kwiriss airport in Al-Bab, near Aleppo, on Thursday, February 14. Click through to see photos of Syria's civil war in February, or look back at images from December and January.
A Syrian woman gazes through a bus window in Aleppo on February 14.
Rebels fire a mortar toward Syrian troops stationed at Kwiriss airport in Al-Bab on February 14.
Turkish police officers clean the site of a vehicle explosion at the Turkish border crossing at Syria's Bab al-Hawa post on Wednesday, February 13. The explosion happened Monday, February 11.
A girl stands at the entrance of a makeshift home set up in the catacombs of the ancient Dead City of Serjilla in northwestern Syria on February 11.
Damaged cars litter the Cilvegozu border crossing between Turkey and Syria on Monday, February 11, after at least 13 people were killed and dozens wounded when a car exploded.
Rebels pray inside a cave in the village of Kfarruma in the Syrian province of Idlib near the border with Turkey on Sunday, February 10.
A rebel fighter watches the pro-government forces in the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, February 9.
A rebel fighter takes aim at pro-government forces through a barricaded window in Aleppo on February 9.
A rebel fighter climbs down to use a plank to cross from one building to another as he and others position to fight against pro-government forces in Aleppo on February 9.
Rebel snipers take aim at pro-government forces through holes in a building in Aleppo on February 9.
Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire at a factory after what activists say was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at al-Haidariah area in Aleppo on Friday, February 8.
Syrian rebels deploy a Soviet-made T-55 tank in the Qadi Askar district of Aleppo as they prepare to fight regime forces in the Sheikh Said district of the northern city on February 8.
Dust and debris fill a stairwell as Free Syrian Army fighters descend during fighting with Syrian Army soldiers in the Haresta neighborhood of Damascus on Tuesday, February 7.
A rebel fighter carries ammunition for a B-10 recoilless rifle in the Haresta neighborhood of Damascus on February 7.
A lone window is lit in a building in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus on the evening of Wednesday, February 6.
A Syrian rebel sits atop a Soviet-made T-55 tank as comrades pray on the Jabal al-Turkman mountain in Syria's northern Latakia province on Tuesday, February 5.
Free Syrian Army fighters enter a Syrian army base during heavy fighting in the Arabeen neighborhood of Damascus on Sunday, February 3.
A rebel fighter throws a hand grenade near a Syrian army base in Damascus on February 3.
People stand in the dust of a building destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, on February 3.
Free Syrian Army fighters stand outside a Syrian army base in Damascus.
A rebel fighter holds the head of a mannequin up to a hole in the wall of a Syrian Army base to attract and locate a sniper during heavy fighting in Damascus on February 3.
People inspect the damage from an airstrike in Aleppo.
A Free Syrian Army fighter wounded by a hand grenade, is lifted onto a stretcher by other fighters during heavy fighting in Damascus.
A rebel fighter fires his rifle through a hole in the wall of a Syrian army base.
Free Syrian Army fighters pray before they enter a Syrian army base on February 3.
Syrian regime forces walk outside a cement factory following clashes with rebels in the northern city of Aleppo on February 3.
A Free Syrian Army fighter gestures as he checks Syrian army positions during clashes in the Haresta neighborhood of Damascus on Friday, February 1.
A rebel fighter runs for cover during clashes in Damascus on February 1.
Photos: Showdown in Syria
Photos: Showdown in Syria
Photos: Showdown in Syria
Photos: Showdown in Syria
Photos: Showdown in Syria
Can Syrian town's truce hold?
Turkey-Syria border blast caught on tape
Syria's latest string of violence
The opposition activist organization Local Coordination Committees of Syria said 136 people were killed in war-related violence across Syria on Tuesday, including 47 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 32 in Aleppo. CNN cannot independently verify those figures.
The rebels last weekend claimed to have launched an offensive against the capital. The regime denies it is under siege.
In the western town of Tal Kalakh, bullets have stopped flying. But it's not because either side has won, it's because they've battled to a draw and have entered into a wobbly cease-fire.
The United Nations on Tuesday estimated 70,000 people have died in almost two years of fighting.
The regime would welcome the opportunity to begin negotiating a broader peace, al-Maqdad told CNN.
"We hope that those who are willing to stop the destruction of Syria come to the national dialogue without conditions to sit together as Syrians and their Syrian leadership and sort out our problems together," he said.
When asked if al-Assad would give up power if he were voted out, al-Maqdad said, "Absolutely, but I assure you at least he still enjoys a majority in Syria."
Al-Maqdad defended the regime's shelling, calling it a reaction to the opposition's violence.
"This is not our option," he said. "This is the option they imposed on us to defend our own people and our own cities. What we are demanding is a stop to all these actions and to come to the table where we discuss all our grievances together."
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, met earlier this month in Munich, Germany, with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. The U.S. has already recognized the rebels as the legitimate rulers in Syria.
"President Obama and I and nearly all of our partners and allies are convinced that President Assad, a tyrant hell-bent on clinging to power, is no longer fit to lead the Syrian people and he must go," Biden said, according to a transcript of his Munich speech released by the White House.
"The opposition continues to grow stronger. And as the Syrian people have their chance to forge their own future, they will continue to find a partner in the United States of America," he said.
The rebellion against al-Assad's government began in earnest in May 2011 as a wave of uprisings spread across the Arab world, including Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt.
Read more: Kerry and Obama on same page in Syria?
留言列表
留言列表
