Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that "international cooperation" is needed to destroy the Islamic State group, which is the target of a U.S.-led military campaign.
In a speech to members of his ruling Ba'ath party, Assad said the most important element in determining the outcome of the campaign is whether there is "real and sincere international cooperation" against the jihadists.
Assad was speaking just days after U.S. President Barack Obama rejected any alliance with the Syrian president against the IS group, which controls large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq.
Obama said in Australia on November 16 that Assad, who is facing a nearly four-year armed uprising, "has lost legitimacy with the majority of his people."
Obama added that bringing Assad into the anti-IS alliance "would only turn more Sunnis in Syria toward the extremist group.
