Jordan rejects one of three scenarios for al-Assad departure

A senior Turkish official has revealed that there are three scenarios on the table before the United States and its allies for the departure of Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.

In remarks quoted by Kuwait’s Al-Siyaasa newspaper, the Turkish official who requested anonymity said that, “The first scenario is to assassinate al-Assad through his narrow inner circle without this being credited as a victory for the opposition or foreign countries.”

The second scenario is “military intervention by the United States backed by British, French and German forces, in addition to the support of other allied countries. This scenario is strongly supported by the Gulf states and the Free Syrian Army, while opposed by Jordan and Turkey due to their concern that the fire of the external military intervention could reach their territories.”

“The third scenario entails keeping things as they are for now until the coming presidential elections in Syria (due in 2014), when al-Assad’s presidential term comes to an end, he declares his intention not to run for presidency again and leaves Syria without international legal prosecution.”

In response to these scenarios that are expected to be implemented by the United States and its allies, the Turkish official expected international diplomatic pressures to be put on Russia and Iran to support al-Assad’s departure and bring an end to mass Syrian deaths before the end of his presidential term, otherwise they might resort to the other scenarios.

The Turkish official confirmed that the Arabs will shortly arrive in Ankara to coordinate with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Syrian dossier before his upcoming visit to Washington.