Fox News interviewed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, the second such interview Assad has granted to American media in the past month.
The interview, conducted by contributor Dennis Kucinich and Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Greg Palkot, will air Wednesday night during a two-hour edition of "Special Report with Bret Baier."
Fox News Executive Vice President Michael Clemente, who traveled to the region when he was a producer for Peter Jennings at ABC, also was present in a temporary control room at the Presidential Palace the during the interview.
Clemente said that Kucinich advised him he believed he could secure the interview on Sept. 7. Because of an opportunity for "unique news value" and on the condition Fox News journalists would be present, Clemente told Kucinich to pursue the interview.
Clemente said that there were no restrictions on what types of questions could be asked during the interview. He added that Kucinich was "not there in the capacity of a journalist nor was he representing FOX News in that role."
Obviously, a lot has changed in the Syria situation over the last 10 days. On Sept. 7, President Barack Obama was preparing his own media push to try to convince the American people — and Congress — to approve military strikes in Syria. On Sept. 9, Assad gave an interview to PBS' Charlie Rose.
A week later, Russia and the U.S. brokered a deal that calls for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.
"Given the change in circumstances between first learning of the possibility of an interview and the actual event, we believe our crew performed admirably," Clemente said.
The Syrian Presidency's Twitter account tweeted out a photo of the interview:
#President al-Assad gives an #interview to American Fox News channel, to be broadcasted on 01:00 am – Damascus. pic.twitter.com/gVHjyIpPMA
— Syrian Presidency (@Presidency_Sy) September 18, 2013