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The seemingly contradictory reports over Assad's intentions fueled the debate over his future, which already had intensified following this week's daring attack in Damascus that killed four people close to him. The victims included his powerful brother-in-law and deputy defense minister, and his defense minister. Orlov, the Russian ambassador in Paris, said in an interview with Radio France Internationale that Assad's acceptance of an international agreement in June for a transition toward a more democratic regime, and his subsequent naming a representative to negotiate the transition, meant that he was prepared to give up leadership. "Personally ... I think it will be difficult for him to stay in office, given everything that's happened," Orlov told RFI. He later backtracked in an interview with BFM TV, saying in response to a question that he did not think Assad's days were numbered. "I say it's for Syrian people to determine that ... Is the regime coming to an end or not? It's not for me to say," Orlov said. The ambassador blamed the confusion on the fact that he was misunderstood. Syrian TV quickly said the interview had been taken out of context. The Russian Foreign Ministry wrote in its Twitter feed that "It's only for the Syrian people to decide the future of the Syrian republic and its leaders." The remarks by ambassador Orlov added a new layer of interpretation to the Geneva agreement, which was based on a U.N.-brokered peace plan that Syria's president was party to. In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined at the time that the plan does not require Assad's ouster, saying there is "no attempt in the document to impose on the Syrian people any type of transitional process."
[Associated
Press;
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