Syria: Bashar al-Assad ready to share power, says Vladimir Putin By Tom Porter September 4, 2015 14:05 BST Russian President Vladimir Putin said Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad is ready to share power and even could hold snap parliamentary elections. Russia has been Assad's main international ally during the four-year civil war that has caused millions to flee the country and cost more than 200,000 lives. Moscow has repeatedly resisted calls for Assad to step aside, and Putin said the West should work with Assad's regime to combat jihadist organisation Islamic State, which now controls more than half of Syria. "We...