Assad tells Aoun he 'won't interfere' in presidential file

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told ex-president Michel Aoun in their meeting in Damascus on Tuesday that “he is not interfering in the presidential file” and that he will “remain neutral and won’t discuss this file with anyone,” sources close to the Free Patriotic Movement told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

Sources close to the March 8 camp also told the daily that Assad told Aoun that he will not interfere in the presidential file without voicing any other stance.

“Aoun’s visit to Damascus is an attempt to seek rescue, after FPM chief MP Jebran Bassil himself sought Aoun’s help to protect his bloc from disintegration,” the March 8 sources said.

The visit was an “attempt to find exits and find a place in the Syrian-Saudi agreement,” the sources added.