Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says no official date has been set for a planned international peace conference on Syria. He made the remarks on Monday in an interview with Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen TV.
"There is no date, and there is no factors that help in holding it now if we want it to succeed. Meaning, who are the parties participating in Geneva? What is the relation of these forces to the Syrian people? Are the forces representing the Syrian people or forces representing the countries that made it?" Assad said.
Assad says Syria has no problem in taking part in the conference. But many questions are still on the table. If financial and arms support for the rebels are stopped, there would be no problem in solving the country's civil crisis.
The Syrian president also accuses some regional and Arab countries of supporting forces opposing his administration, saying weapons have been smuggled illegally into Syria.
The president says that the crisis in his country has passed through several stages, and that his administration is now in the stage of fighting al-Qaeda and its affiliates.