Assad: Defeating 'terrorists' only way for political progress in Syria

Political progress in Syria can only be achieved by first defeating 'terrorists', current President Bashar al-Assad has claimed - but warned that the opposition was unstable.

Himself a controversial figure accused of crimes against humanity, Assad faces being ousted by Western forces - including the UK - who have claimed his departure is the only way to secure peace for the war-stricken country.

Assad, who refers to all anti-government insurgents as 'terrorists', said he did not believe that any agreement with Syrian opposition forces would help bring about the end of the country's five-year civil war.

It comes ahead of a vote by UK MPs on whether to join coalition airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State in Syria - and Assad's future is likely to form a significant part of the debate.

During the interview in Damascus, Assad also accused Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan of deliberately downing a Russian warplane because the intervention of Moscow - one of Assad's strongest allies - had "changed the balance" on the ground.

Turkey, which has said that any long-term solution in Syria must include Assad's departure, claimed the Russian fighter jet had violated Turkish airspace and had been shot down after numerous warnings.

But Russia says it was flying over Syria.

In the meantime, Assad added, any militant groups who were ready to lay down arms would be granted full amnesty - though he admitted it was unlikely extremist jihadist groups such as Islamic State or al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front would take him up on the offer.