President Assad’s media advisor appeared on CNN and asked where John Kerry gets the right to tell the Syrian people who can and cannot be their leader. She encouraged the media to come to Syria so “you will find out for yourself who is the criminal; who is kidnapping people, who is raping people.” She said that “most of what’s circulated in the media has nothing to do with what’s in Syria.” From the following site: http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2014/01/bouthaina-shaaban-think-u-s-democratic-syria/ In the current international negotiations over the Syrian conflict, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made it clear that current president Bashar al-Assad will not have a role in any new transitional government.