THE CURRENT battle for Aleppo could seal the fate of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, but in truth his regime has already lost its legitimacy. The gruesome viciousness and savagery of its fight against rebel forces over the last 18 months, without regard for elementary human rights and disregarding serious efforts to mediate or negotiate a transition, ensures that. Multilateral negotiations rather than a direct international military intervention represent the best hope of securing a successor state satisfactory to most Syrians. Neighbouring states and great powers are already politically involved with Syrian parties to the conflict and are necessarily part of the solution.
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