Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said on Tuesday its country was ready to offer Syrian President Bashar Assad Asylum.

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said on Tuesday its country was ready to offer Syrian President Bashar Assad Asylum.

Marzouki said in an interview to be published Wednesday that the offer was part of a negotiated settlement to the Syrian crisis.

"Tunisia is ready to grant asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his relatives in the framework of a negotiated settlement to the Syrian crisis," he told La Presse newspaper.

During the so-called “Friends of Syria” conference which took place Friday in Tunis, Marzouki had called for an Arab peacekeeping force for Syria in tandem with diplomatic efforts to try to persuade Assad to quit.

"A political solution must be found, such as granting the Syrian president, his family and members of his regime judicial immunity and a place to seek refuge, which Russia could offer," he said Friday.