Difficult future for Syria with Assad - Gentiloni

(ANSA) - Ischia, July 1 - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Friday that "it is hard to imagine Syria's future if Bashar al-Assad continues in power".
    Speaking on the sidelines of the Ischia international journalism prize ceremony, Gentiloni said Syria's future "depends on the negotiations between the various Syrian parties, but it cannot be put into the hands of Bashar". It will be up to the Syrians to decide via "free elections if Syria is to be a united and federal country," he said.
    "But Bashar must accept the idea that he cannot be the master of the situation".