Assad outlines new peace initiative as Syrian rebels draw nearer

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday outlined a new peace initiative that included a national reconciliation conference and a new constitution in a rare speech about the uprising against his rule, which has killed an estimated 60,000 people and brought civil war to the edge of his capital.

Speaking before an overwhelmingly supportive crowd that interrupted his speech with chants and rapturous applause several times, Assad said the initiative could only take root after regional and Western countries stopped funding what he called militant extremists fighting to overthrow him.

It was the 47-year-old leader's first speech in months and his first public comments since he dismissed suggestions that he might go into exile to end the civil war, telling Russian television in November that he would "live and die" in Syria.

It was the 47-year-old leader's first speech in months and his first public comments since he dismissed suggestions that he might go into exile to end the civil war, telling Russian television in November that he would "live and die" in Syria.