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| Syria's President Bashar al-Assad delivers rare public speech | Syria's President Bashar al-Assad delivers rare public speech |
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| Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has made his first public appearance since November, with a speech before supporters at an opera house in Damascus. | Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has made his first public appearance since November, with a speech before supporters at an opera house in Damascus. |
| Fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces raged across the country hours before the speech on Sunday, in which Assad announced what he described as a peace plan. | Fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces raged across the country hours before the speech on Sunday, in which Assad announced what he described as a peace plan. |
| Assad called for a reconciliation conference with "those who have not betrayed Syria" to be followed by the formation of a new government and amnesty. | Assad called for a reconciliation conference with "those who have not betrayed Syria" to be followed by the formation of a new government and amnesty. |
| "The first stage of a political solution would require that regional powers stop funding and arming [the opposition], an end to terrorist operations and controlling the borders. We will not have dialogue with a puppet made by the west," he said. | "The first stage of a political solution would require that regional powers stop funding and arming [the opposition], an end to terrorist operations and controlling the borders. We will not have dialogue with a puppet made by the west," he said. |
| In an earlier part of the speech he called for a "full national mobilisation" to fight against rebels he described as al-Qaida terrorists. | In an earlier part of the speech he called for a "full national mobilisation" to fight against rebels he described as al-Qaida terrorists. |
| In Assad's last previous public appearance, a Russian television interview in November, he pledged to stay in Syria and fight to the death if necessary. His last public speech was in June. | In Assad's last previous public appearance, a Russian television interview in November, he pledged to stay in Syria and fight to the death if necessary. His last public speech was in June. |
| A United Nations report estimates that 60,000 people have died since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday that rebels clashed with troops in the southern province of Daraa, the birthplace of the uprising. | |
| Violence also raged in opposition strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus, which rebels are using as bases to assail the government's heavy defences in the capital. | Violence also raged in opposition strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus, which rebels are using as bases to assail the government's heavy defences in the capital. |
| Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, the prime minister, David Cameron, said: "My message to Assad is that he should go. He has the most phenomenal amount of blood on his hands." | Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, the prime minister, David Cameron, said: "My message to Assad is that he should go. He has the most phenomenal amount of blood on his hands." |