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Assad: Military ‘Needs More Time’

Says creating buffer zones is “unrealistic.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad insisted in a new interview that his military will eventually succeed against the ongoing revolt and that it just “needs more time.” The pro-government al-Dunya TV released excepts from the interview on Wednesday, where Assad said the high-profile defections have “cleansed” his government of those lacking patriotism. Assad dismissed the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones as “unrealistic” and said the government is fighting a battle “both regionally and internationally.” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that creating a buffer zone would be impossible without imposing a no-fly zone and deploying ground forces, an action that would need the agreement of Turkey. Meanwhile, heavy shelling was reported on Tuesday in Damascus, Aleppo, and other rebel-held areas.