The United States does not believe that the Syrian people want President Bashar al-Assad as their leader any longer, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Monday. She said it does not mean the United States will accept Assad participating in future elections. She then told ABC News on Sunday that "Assad is always a priority" and the United States wants to bring him to justice. A crackdown by Assad on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to civil war and Islamic State militants have used the chaos to seize territory in Syria and Iraq. The White House said on Friday that the US focus is on defeating Islamic State militants.

Source: Egypt Independent April 04, 2017 08:48 UTC