US-sanctioned Syrian dictator President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Sunday that his regime has held meetings “from time to time” with Washington, as it seeks openings after over a decade of isolation. The United States was among the first to cut ties with Assad over the brutal repression of anti-government protests that sparked a civil war in 2011 that has killed over 600,000 people, with many Western and Arab states also severing relations as Assad’s forces killed civilians, including using chemical weapons against them. However last year Syria returned to the Arab fold,…