June 6, 2014 - 22:26 AMT
Assad victory means no foe can call for his departure: Hezbollah

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's landslide election victory means that his civil war foes can no longer call for his departure as a precondition for peace, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday, June 6, according to Reuters.

The leader of the Lebanese group that has sent fighters to back the president, described the vote as a victory for Syria. Assad's foes called the election a charade.

"This election tells the opposition and all regional countries and the world that any political solution in Syria begins and ends with President Bashar al-Assad," Nasrallah told supporters via a video link.

"You can no longer put the resignation of the president as a pre-condition."

Assad is struggling to end a more than three-year revolt which started as peaceful anti-government demonstrations that descended into civil war.

Assad's opponents say his resignation is a precondition for any future peace agreement.