Assad undefeatable without foreign powers launching full scale war, says Iraq minister

A Middle-East politician has claimed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not going to lose power unless there is foreign intervention amounting to a full-scale war.

Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said that Assad will survive the Syrian rebel with a united army in control of Damascus and the major Syrian cities, the Independent reports.

According to the report, Zebari believes that a renewed ceasefire would require heavy involvement by the UN and international peacekeepers to de-escalate the conflict.

The Gulf monarchies have been supplying advanced weapons to the rebels and the US and the Europeans are conducting some covert operations in Syria and helping the Syrian opposition.

Meanwhile, Zebari also pointed out that when US and Russia agreed on Geneva II it meant that Assad would stay in power until 2014 or until he finishes his term.