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Assad part of solution in Syria: UN envoy

Xinhua, February 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

President Bashar al-Assad must be included in peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria, the United Nations envoy to Syria said here on Friday.

In a press conference after meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy, said any solution to the fighting in Syria must include al-Assad, who still controls most parts of the country.

"President Assad is part of the solution," he noted.

The Islamic State (IS) will be benefited if no solution to the conflict is agreed, according to de Mistura.

Earlier this week, de Mistura met with Assad in Damascus, the capital city of Syria.

Kurz said it is necessary to fight against the IS, but would never see Assad as a friend or even a partner.

Some 200,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011. Enditem