11SYRIA/COPY/TS
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued a defiant message ahead of next week's peace talks in Geneva.
Western governments have been urging him stand down and take part in free elections.
But President Assad says he has no plans to step aside, and he's insisting the issue is not up for discussion.
"If we wanted to surrender we would have surrendered from the start," Assad told Russian parliament members during a meeting in Damascus.
The three-year civil war in Syria has claimed more than 130 thousand lives and forced millions from their homes.
