The office of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad denied comments attributed to him Sunday by a Russian news agency which quoted him as saying his departure is not up for discussion.
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on September 25, 2013 shows President Bashar al-Assad giving an interview with Venezuelan television station TeleSUR in Damascus
"What the Russian news agency Interfax has published as comments made by President Assad are inaccurate," said the Syrian presidency's press office.
The statement came after Interfax quoted Assad sounding a defiant note in a meeting with Russian parliamentarians in the Syrian capital Damascus.