DHAKA: Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad said there is a ‘significant’ chance he will seek a new term and ruled out sharing power with the opposition seeking his ouster, in an exclusive interview with media before the Geneva II peace talks.

Speaking on Sunday at his presidential palace in Damascus, Assad said he expected Syria’s war to grind on.

And he called for the talks scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Montreux in Switzerland to focus on what he termed his ‘war against terrorism’.

‘I see no reason why I shouldn’t stand,’ he said of presidential elections in June.

If there is ‘public opinion in favour of my candidacy, I will not hesitate for a second to run for election’,, The Straits Times publishes this report on Monday.

BDST: 1638 HRS, JAN 20, 2014