Bashar Assad

APTOPIX Switzerland Syria Peace Talks.JPEG-04d9d.jpg

Haitham al-Maleh, senior member of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Syria's main political opposition group, sits alone at the opposition table during the first day of the Syrian peace talks in Montreux, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. The Syrian peace talks begin with a bitter clash over President Bashar Assad's future. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Assad's decision to meet peaceful dissent with brutal force had robbed him of all legitimacy, while Assad's foreign minister declared that no one outside Syria had the right to remove the government. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Mideast Syria Tides of War.JPEG-0e1dc.jpg

** FILE ** A Free Syrian Army fighter fires an AK-47 during a battle against the Syrian army loyal to President Bashar Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, Nov. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)

Mideast Syria .JPEG-0ce96.jpg

Syrian President Bashar Assad gestures as he speaks during an interview with Italy's RAI News 24 TV at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013. Mr. Assad said his government will abide by last week's U.N. resolution calling for the country's chemical weapons program to be dismantled and destroyed. (AP Photo/SANA)

20121016-180438-pic-106951153.jpg

Appearing on Syrian State Television, President Bashar Assad delivers a speech in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. Assad gave his first speech Tuesday since he agreed last month to an Arab League plan to halt the government’s crackdown on dissent. (APTN via Associated {Press)

20120110-205100-pic-483586136.jpg

Syrian President Bashar Assad, in a speech Tuesday at Damascus University, said he would not step down and insisted that he still has his people's support despite a 10-month-old uprising against him. (SANA via Associated Press)