Assad rules out joining anti-IS coalition

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has admitted that his government had received prior warning of the anti-IS airstrikes, but insisted that there had been no direct co-operation since air strikes began in Syria in September. "We knew about the campaign before it started, but we didn't know about the details."

He also dismissed as a “childish story”, the well-documented allegations that Syrian government forces had been dropping barrel bombs indiscriminately on rebel-held areas, killing thousands of civilians.

"We have bombs, missiles and bullets... There is [are] no barrel bombs, we don't have barrels. I know about the army. They use bullets, missiles and bombs. I haven't heard of the army using barrels, or maybe, cooking pots," said the Syrian leader.

Barrel bombs are large cylindrical metal containers filled with explosive and shrapnel, usually dropped from helicopters at an altitude out of reach of small-arms fire. The barrel bomb has become synonymous with Syria, the most notorious weapon in the regime's arsenal.

The Islamic State's (IS) seizure of large parts of Syria and Iraq in the past year and its creation of a "caliphate" has prompted officials in the US-led anti-IS coalition to consider working with the Syrian leader to combat the group.

Despite this, Assad ruled out joining the international coalition that is seeking to "degrade and destroy" IS.

Assad stressed that he was not against co-operating over IS with other countries. But he would refuse to talk with American officials, he said, "because they don't talk to anyone, unless he's a puppet", an apparent reference to Western- and Gulf Arab-backed opposition leaders.

The president did concede, however, that his government had been receiving information indirectly via third parties about sorties by US and Arab warplanes over Syria.

"Sometimes, they convey a message, a general message, but there's nothing tactical," he said, adding: "There is no dialogue. There's, let's say, information, but not dialogue."

Assad dismissed US efforts to train and equip a "moderate" rebel force to fight IS militants on the ground in Syria, calling it a "pipe-dream". He argued that there were no moderates, only extremists from IS and al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front.

He added: "There are no indiscriminate weapons. When you shoot you aim, and when you shoot, when you aim, you aim at terrorists in order to protect civilians... You cannot have war without casualties."