US President Barack Obama has said that President Bashar al-Assad must step aside in order to achieve stability in Syria and end the brutal civil war in the country.
Stressing on the importance of an actual Government that has policing capacity and structure at areas in Syria that currently aren’t governed, Obama said the long-term US goal was to to stabilise lawless regions so that ISIS does not have any safe haven.
“It is my firm belief and the belief of the experts in this administration, that so long as Assad is there, we cannot achieve that kind of stability inside of Syria,” Obama said.
“That’s going to continue to be a top priority for us, moving aggressively on the military track and not letting ISIS take a breath, and pounding away at them with our Special
Forces and our airstrikes, and the training and advising of partners who can go after them,” he said.