U.S.-backed talks may be last chance for Iraq -Assad

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regional talks with Syria as the "the main player" may be the last chance to help stabilize Iraq and begin moving it toward national reconciliation, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday.

Asked whether Iraq's neighbors had enough influence to bring an end to that country's civil strife, Assad said in an ABC News interview: "It doesn't matter how strong economically or what army you have, it's a matter of credibility. We have credibility."

Any dialogue on the Iraq conflict would have to be carried out with the support of other countries in the region as well as the United States, the Syrian leader said in the interview in Damascus.

"We're not the single player but we are the main player in this issue and our role is going to be through supporting the dialogue between the different parties inside Iraq," Assad said.

U.S. allies and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group have urged President Bush to hold direct talks with Iran and Syria as part of new Iraq strategy.

Bush has not ruled out a regional conference to help Iraq involving Iran and Syria but the White House has indicated Iraq would have to set it up.

Assad said he did not expect the Americans to sign on. "I think it's too late for them to move toward that," he said. "It's too late because Iraq is heading toward the chaos for civil war.

"So maybe this is the last chance that we have now to start helping Iraq," Assad said, adding that it is in the Middle Eastern neighbors' interest to halt the bloodshed that threatens to engulf the region.

"Whether it's a budding civil war or a full-blown civil war, it doesn't matter what the definition. It's like domino effect, it's going to affect the whole Middle East in general, and this means it's going to affect the rest of the world," Assad said.

The United States is responsible for the deteriorating political situation in Iraq, Assad said, and politically the United States had failed to help the Iraqi government restore security.

"They only talk about sending more troops or less troops. They only talk about troops and power, not about political process," Assad said.

Assad suggested that elections and democracy had done little to help the people of Iraq, estimating that 700,000 Iraqis had been killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

"What's the benefit of democracy if you're dead?" he asked.