By The Associated Press

Published: Saturday, January 5, 2013, 9:32 p.m.
Updated: Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Syrian President Bashar Assad will deliver a speech on Sunday in a rare address to the nation, state media said, as rebels fighting to topple his embattled regime pressed ahead with an offensive on the capital.

The official SANA news agency said in a brief statement on Saturday that Assad will speak about the latest developments in Syria. The speech would be the first by the leader since June, and it comes amid intense fighting between government troops and rebels on the outskirts of Damascus.

Assad has rarely spoken in public since the uprising against him began in March 2011. In each of his previous speeches and interviews, the president has dug in his heels, even as Western powers have moved to boost the opposition in Syria's civil war.

In his last public comments, Assad vowed in an interview with Russia Today on Nov. 8 that he would “live and die in Syria.”

Fighting has raged for weeks in the neighborhoods and towns around Damascus that have been opposition strongholds since the Syrian revolt began.

The uprising started with peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to a recent United Nations recent estimate.

Diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian crisis have failed to bring an end to the bloodshed, although the international community continues to push for a peaceful settlement.

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