Syrian VP al Sharaa: "The armed factions of the opposition or ones with external ties, cannot claim to be the sole representative of the Syrians, just as the current rule cannot achieve change without partners!"

[Al Akhbar] Excerpts of the full interview dye on Monday:

"... In his first public statements since July 2011, Syrian Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa told Al-Akhbar that “with every passing day, the military and political solutions get further away.” Al-Sharaa said, “The way events are heading will lead to an uncomfortable place where things will definitely go from bad to worse.”Al-Sharaa added, “We must be in the position of defending Syria’s existence. We are not in a battle for the survival of an individual or a regime.”
In the interview that Al-Akhbar will publish on Monday, al-Sharaa said, “The opposition with its different factions, civilian, armed, or ones with external ties, cannot claim to be the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian People, just as the current rule with its ideological army and its confrontation parties lead by the Baath, cannot achieve change without new partners.”
Al-Sharaa called for building confidence between the crisis sides and said, “The solution has to be Syrian, but through a historic settlement, which would include the main regional countries, and the member of UN Security Council. This settlement must include stopping all shapes of violence, and the creation of a national unity government with wide powers.”
About the field situation, al-Sharaa said: “The drop in the number of peaceful protesters led one way or another to the rise in militants.”
The Syrian Vice-President added, “The opposition forces combined cannot decide the battle militarily, meanwhile what the security forces and the army units are doing will not reach a conclusive end.”