Assad: Military Action Repercussions Bigger Than Their Ability to Endure
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday brushed aside Western calls for his ouster as "worthless," saying they come from "countries that are committing massacres," in an interview with state television.
"While withholding comment, we tell them that their words are worthless," Assad said.
“Such remarks should not be made about a president who was chosen by the Syrian people and who was not put in office by the West, a president who was not made in the United States, "he added.
The Syrian leader warned that “any military action against Syria will have repercussions that will be much bigger” than the West’s “ability to endure.”
“They expected that Syria would fall within weeks, but the Syrian people safeguarded Syria. Gunmen have intensified their operations, especially throughout last week, but I’m not worried about the security situation,” Assad said.
“Security authorities must confront any security problems in the country and this is the state’s duty,” he stressed.
Assad's television appearance is the first since June 20, and only his fourth since the start of pro-democracy demonstrations in mid-March.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in the crackdown against protesters, activists and U.N. figures show.
The Syrian regime insists the violence is the work of "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.
"We have started to register some success on the security front and can say that the situation is now more reassuring," he said. "A political solution cannot be put in place if security is not preserved."
He said local elections would be held in December, to be followed by parliamentary polls in February after a new law on political parties comes into effect this week.
He also ruled out bowing to Western demands.
"When they speak of reforms, Western colonialist countries mean that we must give them everything they want, that we abandon resistance, that we abandon our rights ... They shouldn't even dream of it ... We will not bow."
U.S. President Barack Obama called on Thursday for Assad to stand down, a demand quickly echoed by the leaders of Britain, France and Germany and Spain.
“We have made use of dialogue in order to understand what the Syrian street wants and we will then move to the phase of discussing the constitution,” said Assad.
“Article 8 (of the constitution) is the core of the political system, and it wouldn’t be rational to amend only a certain article as tackling any article would require the tackling of the other articles, that’s why we must revise the constitution as a whole,” said Assad of Article 8, which stipulates that the Baath party is the sole "leader of state and society," giving it a monopoly on power.
“They tried to undermine Syria’s sovereignty following the (2005) assassination of (Lebanon’s former premier Rafik) Hariri, but they failed,” Assad noted.
“We enjoy self-sufficiency and the economic situation has improved and any embargo on Syria will be an embargo on all the countries of the region due to its geographic location, that’s why we will not be hit by hunger and we won’t worry because the alternatives are available and the international arena is not locked,” he added.
Addressing the relation with neighboring Turkey, Assad said: “We won’t allow any nearby or distant country to interfere in Syria’s domestic affairs, even if it was Turkey. We don’t know the intentions of Turkey, so we can’t have a stance.”
“I won’t tell the Syrian people that they will emerge stronger because they already know that. We are talking about 5,000 years of civilization. I am reassured and not worried … and I reassure all of those who are worried,” the Syrian leader said at the end of the interview.
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