Assad has no political future in Syria, Merkel says

BERLIN

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Russia to use its influence over the Syrian regime to stop attacks against civilians and work towards a political solution, but also underlined that al-Assad cannot have a political future in the country.

"Al-Assad has to stop hitting its own people with barrel bombs and I hope that Russia will work for this as well. And secondly, everything has to be done in order to prevent tragedy in Aleppo and around Aleppo," Merkel said at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in Berlin.

"The opponent, the enemy has to be IS, and not the Syrian people," she stressed, referring to the militant Daesh group by an alternative abbreviation.

Her remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a surprise meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Moscow on Tuesday, as Russia has strengthened its military involvement in Syria.

Merkel urged Russia to help a political solution and direct its military operations to Daesh.

"We are trying to use our means in order to bring about a peaceful settlement in Syria. But it seems that this goal cannot be achieved very quickly," Merkel said.

"But still a political solution is absolutely essential, and here a man such as Assad will certainly not have a political future. What we have to do is to reduce, as much as possible, the suffering of people there and fight the Islamic State," she stressed.

- Merkel calls for de-escalation

Merkel has met with Israeli Prime Minister amid escalating violence in the Middle East and urged all parties to act in a responsible way to decrease the tension.

"We would very much wish from all sides to contribute to the de-escalation of the situation. Israel obviously has the obligation to protect its own citizens and as regards to security measures. But while taking security measures, proportionality principle should be taken into consideration," she said.

"I think that the confirmation that the present status of the holy sites in Jerusalem needs to be continued, is a very important message to the rest of the Arab world," she added.

The chancellor renewed Germany’s criticism of new settlements and underlined that Berlin supports a two-state solution to the conflict.

Netanyahu blamed the Palestinian side for the escalating tensions.

"Incitement leads to terror. So if we want to have peace, we have to stop terror. And to stop terror we have to stop incitement," he argued.

Netanyahu said he will meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Berlin on Thursday for talks efforts to restore calm.

- Blaming Holocaust on Palestinians

Israeli prime minister defended his controversial remarks on Holocaust during his visit to Berlin, and argued that the then grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Hussein, was one of the originators of the Holocaust, and was a "war criminal".

"Hitler is responsible for the Holocaust. No one should deny that and I think that it is very clear that the responsibility of Hitler and the Nazis for the extermination of six million Jews is clear to all fair minded people," he said, but added:

"I think no one should deny another important testimony about the mufti of Jerusalem that he told the Nazis to prevent the fleeing of Jews from Europe and that he supported the final solution."

Asked about Netanyahu’s remark during the press conference, Merkel said her government had a very clear view of the responsibility of Germany for the Shoah, the Holocaust.

"We don’t see any reason to change our view of history particularly on this issue. We abide by our responsibility, as Germany, for the the Shoah, the Holocaust," she said.

Netanyahu was widely criticized Wednesday for remarks in which he appeared to blame Palestinians for the Holocaust.

During the 37th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu asserted that the grand mufti’s alleged advice to Hitler constituted evidence of a historical Palestinian tendency to incite violence against the Jewish people.