BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A Syrian rebel leader said Tuesday opponents of President Bashar Assad will keep fighting despite an announcement peace talks are to commence in January.
U.N. officials announced Monday peace talks have been scheduled for Jan. 22 in Geneva, Switzerland, but Gen. Salim Idris, head of the Free Syrian Army, told al-Jazeera talks should be conditioned on removing Assad from office, The New York Times reported from Beirut, Lebanon.
"We will not stop fighting at all, either during the Geneva conference or after the Geneva conference," Idris said in an interview.
Idris said the rebels should be provided with more weapons to "strengthen the negotiators who represent the opposition in Geneva."
The Assad government had not yet said whether it will take part in the January talks, but government officials have said they were open to negotiations, the Times said.
The report came as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 15 people were killed in a car bomb attack in a government-controlled area outside Damascus. Six of the dead were government soldiers, the watchdog group said.
