Assad 'not ready to resign':
Bashar al-Assad is not ready to resign and claims to feel strong support despite 11 months of deadly protests, a top Russian lawmaker who met the Syrian president in Damascus this week said Friday.
International Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi is determined to resign because he is fed up with the deadlock over how to end the country's two-year civil war and believes his role has been compromised, UN diplomats said on Wednesday.