DHAKA: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that President Bashar al-Assad should be involved in any Syrian peace talks amid pressure from the rising number of refugees from Syria.

Merkel made the comment on Thursday after a European Union summit on the asylum seeker crisis, reports Al Jazeera.

‘We have to speak with many actors; this includes Assad, but others as well,’ Merkel said. ‘Not only with the United States of America, Russia, but with important regional partners, Iran, and Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia.’

The comments by the leader of Europe’s biggest political and economic power come amid increasing signs that Western powers who were once insistent on Assad’s departure may be softening their positions in a bid to end the war.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday that although Assad must step down.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has made similar comments.

BDST: 2107 HRS, SEPT 24, 2015
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