Alwaght- Syrian president rejected a recently announced US plans to create safe zones inside his country allegedly to keep refugees from leaving the country.
Bashar al-Assad called the plans "unrealistic" saying his country is the safe zone for its citizens and there is no need for creation of such zones by a foreign power.
In an interview with Yahoo News he said "It's not a realistic idea at all. This is where you can have natural safe zones, which is our country. They don't need safe zones at all.”
He added that “It's much more viable, much more practical and less costly to have stability than to create safe zones".
He also said such zones could be a hot target for attacks by foreign backed militant groups who spare no act in their violence against the country.
The remarks come as the United Nations also rejects safe zones, saying the status quo in Syria does not allow for the creation of safe havens in northern Syria.
US president Donald Trump has repeatedly called for creating safe zones in Syria and most recently in an interview with ABC News on 25 January, he said he “will absolutely do safe zones in Syria,” without giving details.
Assad further stated that the Syrian government would welcome cooperation with the US in the campaign against the ISIS terror group only if Washington respects Syria's sovereignty and unity, and takes a “clear political position” on the matter.
He said US troops would be “welcome” in Syria to fight ISIS provided that Washington coordinates with Damascus, and recognizes the Syrian government’s sovereignty.
"If the Americans are genuine, of course they are welcome. Like any other country, we want to defeat and to fight the terrorists," he said.
"Troops are part of the cooperation... (but) you cannot talk about sending troops... if you don't have a clear political position toward not only the terrorism, toward the sovereignty of Syria, toward the unity of Syria. It must be through the Syrian government,” Assad pointed out.
Syria has been fighting foreign backed militancy for six years now.
