Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad: “I affirm that the Syrian chemicals weapons program is finished,

DAMASCUS, Syria—The Syrian regime sees no point in further peace talks in Geneva if the opposition and its Western backers keep insisting that President Bashar al-Assad relinquish power, the deputy foreign minister said.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Faisal al Mekdad indicated his regime had the backing of longtime ally Russia in its stance on the Geneva talks.

“The issue of [Assad] relinquishing power is now behind us and this is a flagrant interference in Syria’s internal affairs,” Mr. Mekdad said from his office at the Foreign Ministry in Damascus. “This is completely finished and we are not ready to discuss it at all, at all.”

He laughed when asked if Russia, the regime’s main weapons supplier, was in agreement.

“I think Moscow was clear from the start that there’s nothing in the Geneva declaration about relinquishing power and the president,” said Mr. Mekdad, who was part of the government delegation at the talks in January and February.

The regime is preparing for presidential elections this summer and Mr. Assad is expected to be one of several candidates, Syria’s minister of information, Omran al Zoubi, told the Journal this week.

Mr. Mekdad reiterated his government’s commitment to fulfilling its obligations regarding the destruction of chemical weapons and facilitating humanitarian relief, but with caveats.

He cautioned Washington against manipulating the chemical weapons eradication program to undermine the regime and “distort its image.” Washington had previously accused the regime of delay tactics in meeting its obligations.

“We hope this issue won’t be politicized. It’s purely technical,” said Mr. Mekdad. “I affirm that the Syrian chemicals weapons program is finished, it’s behind us, this program no longer exists because we have destroyed all manufacturing capabilities and many production sites and all that’s left are some facilities that we will agree upon.”

Mr. Mekdad said more than half of Syria’s chemical weapons including a quarter of the so-called top-priority arms have been shipped out of the country via the western port city of Latakia.

He said the southern half of the country, which includes the capital Damascus, is now free of such weapons except for two facilities under regime control but located in a battle zone. He said there are fears ”rebels”- terrorists- would attack convoys transporting materials from these two sites, but added the regime would remove the materials at the first opportunity.

On the issue of humanitarian assistance, Mr. Mekdad said Damascus is willing to cooperate including allowing aid to come through the one border crossing it controls with Turkey.

But he said his government is adamant about preventing relief from reaching armed groups suggesting there would be none of the unfettered access that both U.N. agencies and Western powers such as the U.S. have been demanding.

“We want the U.N. to guarantee that this aid does not reach the hands of the terrorist gunmen,” said Mr. Mekdad.

M.A.