President Bashar al-Assad has sent a letter to Pope Francis, in which the Syrian leader stressed that the solution for the ongoing crisis in his country is through dialogue and not through foreign intervention.

President Bashar al-Assad has sent a letter to Pope Francis, in which the Syrian leader stressed that the solution for the ongoing crisis in his country is through dialogue and not through foreign intervention.

The letter was conveyed by Minister of State Joseph Sweid during his meeting with the Pope's Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, official news agency, SANA reported.

Assad appreciated the stances of the pope regarding the Syrian conflict, as he emphasizes that the crisis “will be solved through national dialogue among the Syrians and under a Syrian leadership without foreign intervention as to enable the Syrians to determine their future and leadership through ballots.”

The letter also voiced Damascus readiness to take part in the international peace conference on Syria, “highlighting that combating terrorism that is targeting citizens is a decisive factor in making any peaceful solution to the crisis a success,” SANA added.

The Syrian leader noted that ending the conflict in Syria requires the states which are involved in “supporting the armed terrorist groups (to) stop providing any sort of military, logistic or training support, noting that this support was provided by some of Syria's neighbors and other known countries in the Middle East and abroad.”