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 In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Tuesday, Assad said
there was no direct cooperation with the United States, whose air
force has been bombing Islamic State in Syria since September as
part of a strategy aimed at rolling back the group.
Islamic State has seized wide areas of Syria and Iraq, declaring
them part of a cross-border "caliphate". But the United States has
said Assad cannot be a partner in the campaign against the group,
describing him as part of the problem.
The Syrian government is waging its own, separate campaign against
Islamic State, including air strikes in areas that have also been
struck by the U.S.-led alliance. It has been widely assumed the
Syrian and U.S. armies have conveyed information about the movements
of jets using the same air space.
Asked if there was indirect cooperation, Assad said: "That's true,
through third parties, more than one party, Iraq and other
countries, sometimes they convey a message, a general message, but
there is nothing tactical."
Assad said the Syrian government had known about the U.S.-led
campaign before it started but did not have details. The United
States said in September it had informed the Syrian ambassador to
the United Nations before the first strikes.
 Asked if there was ongoing dialogue via third parties, Assad said:
"There is no dialogue. There is, let's say, information, but not
dialogue."
Iraqi officials say they have also passed information to the Shi'ite
Islamist government in Iran about the U.S.-led campaign against
Islamic State. Iran is an important ally of Assad.
The United States took a strong position against Assad after the
uprising against his rule erupted in 2011, saying he should leave
power, and has funneled support including limited amounts of
military aid to some armed opposition groups.
U.S. officials say they have not relented in their goal of Assad
leaving power but, as has been the case for months, they see no
policy likely to achieve this at an acceptable cost, and their
priority has switched to fighting Islamic State.
As a result, for months they have tacitly lived with Assad staying
in power and made no bones that their focus is to combat the group
rather than push Syria's president from power.
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SYRIA NO FAILED STATE
The Syrian government has sought to consolidate control over the
main urban centers in the western portion of the country, including
Damascus. Islamic State has meanwhile seized control of much of the
east and north.
The Shi'ite-led government in Iraq, together with Iran and the
Lebanese group Hezbollah, have been important allies for Assad in
the conflict. Shi'ite Iraqi militias have fought on Assad's side
against the insurgency spearheaded by Sunni Islamists.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring
group, said on Saturday the death toll from nearly four years of
civil war in Syria had risen to 210,000 people.
Assad said Syria was not a failed state, saying the government and
state institutions were still "fulfilling their duty toward the
Syrian people".
He also denied the army had used barrel bombs in its campaign
against the insurgency. The use of barrel bombs - barrels packed
with explosives and projectiles that are dropped from helicopters -
has been criticized by Syria's opponents and human rights groups.
"They're called bombs. We have bombs, missiles and bullets ... There
is no barrel bombs, we don't have barrels," he said.
(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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