Hezbollah says Syria vote means foes can't demand Assad quit

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's landslide election victory means that his civil war foes can no longer call for his departure as a precondition for peace, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday. The leader of the Lebanese group that has sent fighters to back the president, described the vote as a victory for Syria. Assad's foes called the election a charade. "This election tells the opposition and all regional countries and the world that any political solution in Syria begins and ends with President Bashar al-Assad," Nasrallah told supporters via a video link. "You can no longer put the resignation of the president as a pre-condition." Assad is struggling to end a more than three-year revolt which started as peaceful anti-government demonstrations that descended into civil war. Assad's opponents say his resignation is a precondition for any future peace agreement. (Reporting by Laila Bassam; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)