Assad says only “crazy” leaders kill own people

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Beirut, Lebanon – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied ordering his troops to kill peaceful demonstrators, telling the U.S. television channel ABC that only a “crazy” leader kills his own people.

Assad is under mounting international pressure, including a threat of sanctions from the Arab League, over a crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests in which the United Nations says more than 4,000 people have been killed.

“We don’t kill our people … No government in the world kills its people, unless it’s led by a crazy person,” ABC’s website on Wednesday quoted Assad as saying in a recorded interview.

“Most of the people that have been killed are supporters of the government, not the vice versa,” Assad said.

Syrian activists say around a quarter of the more than 4,500 deaths they have recorded in nine months of protest have been among the security forces. Most foreign media have been excluded from Syria, making it hard to verify events independently.

The Arab League has threatened to impose sanctions on Syria unless armed forces are verifiably withdrawn from towns and cities and a political dialogue is opened with opposition representatives. Major Western powers as well as neighbours Turkey and Jordan are calling on Assad to step down.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that Washington and its NATO allies wanted Assad to make way for a government ready to establish the rule of law and protect “the rights of all citizens, regardless of sect or ethnicity or gender”.

MASSIVE FORCE

Peaceful protests against Assad, inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, were met with massive force as soon as they began in March. Now Syria is creeping closer to civil war as armed opposition groups organise and move into some city districts.

Assad conceded that some members of his armed forces had gone too far, but said they had been punished.

“Every ‘brute reaction’ was by an individual, not an institution, that’s what you have to know,” he told ABC’s Barbara Walters.

“There is a difference between having a policy to crack down and between having some mistakes committed by some officials,” he said. “There was no command to kill or be brutal.”

Asked if he regretted the violence that has beset his country, he said he had done his best to “protect the people”.

Assad repeated that he was introducing reforms and elections, but said the changes could not be rushed:

“We never said we are a democratic country … we are moving forward in reforms, especially in the last nine months … It takes a long time, it takes a lot of maturity to be a full-fledged democracy.”

He said the mounting international effort to impose sanctions on Syria would have little effect.

“We’ve been under sanctions for the last 30, 35 years. It’s not something new,” Assad said.

“We’re not isolated. You have people coming and going, you have trade, you have everything.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner was quoted in U.S. media as saying it was “ludicrous” that Assad was “attempting to hide behind a sort of shell game and claim he does not exercise authority in his own country”.

CALLS FOR PATIENCE

Russia and Algeria both called for the Arab League peace plan, which Syria says it is considering, to be given time.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that months of effort to secure agreement on a regional plan had now finally started a handover of power in Yemen.

“The same kind of patience, the same kind of responsibility need to be exercised in relation to the realisation of the plan of the Arab League in Syria,” he told reporters after attending a meeting in Lithuania of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told lawmakers in Paris that Syria was in a “pre-civil war situation”.

“Today we are in a situation where we are putting pressure on the Syrian government and, on the other hand, talking to the opposition to create the conditions for dialogue,” he said.

“Outside of this dialogue, this transition will not happen. We must give the maximum chance to this Arab initiative.”

Syria’s state news agency SANA said an “armed terrorist group” had shot dead an army pilot on Tuesday in front of his home in the city of Homs, scene of some of the worst violence.

On Tuesday, SANA had reported that Syrian border guards had blocked an attempt by about 35 “armed terrorists” to enter from Turkey.

It said some of those who came over the border were wounded and escaped back to Turkey where they were picked up in Turkish military vehicles, SANA said.

Relations between Syria and Turkey have disintegrated since Syria began using force to suppress the revolt. Turkey has said a buffer zone may be required on its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria if the violence causes a mass exodus of Syrians.

Reuters

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21 responses to “Assad says only “crazy” leaders kill own people”

  1. Jean Jacques Francois Avatar
    Jean Jacques Francois

    Give this guy credit for trying to pull a fast one on the intelligent people of Syria. This proves that he’s way more retarded than we once thought, or he believes that his people are dumb enough to believe his bullshit. Either way, he’s clearly qualified to be a leader in the Middle East.

    1. This interview was a good thing, Assad just finished off his credibility
      with the world… Anyone who can give orders that result in a 13 year
      old boy being disemboweled, legs broke, eyes destroyed, and his genitals
      stuffed in his mouth deserves the same treatment on his way to meet his maker.

  2. Jean Jacques Francois Avatar
    Jean Jacques Francois

    Give this guy credit for trying to pull a fast one on the intelligent people of Syria. This proves that he’s way more retarded than we once thought, or he believes that his people are dumb enough to believe his bullshit. Either way, he’s clearly qualified to be a leader in the Middle East.

    1. This interview was a good thing, Assad just finished off his credibility
      with the world… Anyone who can give orders that result in a 13 year
      old boy being disemboweled, legs broke, eyes destroyed, and his genitals
      stuffed in his mouth deserves the same treatment on his way to meet his maker.

  3. Here is the interview for those who cant receive it.. This is a good
    thing, the condemnations are starting already over his refusal to accept
    responsibility…Maybe get some action now to help the people..

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/defiant-syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-denies-ordering/story?id=15098612#.Tt-PnlKRiSp

    1. This President is so much in denial that he actually thinks people and world leaders will believe what he is saying,this is so amazing to see his mind set that I do not see how he will reform, but actually he is digging his own grave, I feel so sorry about the Syrian people and the followers of pro Syrian leaders in Lebanon.

  4. Here is the interview for those who cant receive it.. This is a good
    thing, the condemnations are starting already over his refusal to accept
    responsibility…Maybe get some action now to help the people..

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/defiant-syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-denies-ordering/story?id=15098612#.Tt-PnlKRiSp

  5. Here is the interview for those who cant receive it.. This is a good
    thing, the condemnations are starting already over his refusal to accept
    responsibility…Maybe get some action now to help the people..

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/defiant-syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-denies-ordering/story?id=15098612#.Tt-PnlKRiSp

    1.  Avatar

      This President is so much in denial that he actually thinks people and world leaders will believe what he is saying,this is so amazing to see his mind set that I do not see how he will reform, but actually he is digging his own grave, I feel so sorry about the Syrian people and the followers of pro Syrian leaders in Lebanon.

  6. LEBANON101 Avatar
    LEBANON101

    well than mr. al kelb that makes you crazy by your own definition

  7.  Avatar

    well than mr. al kelb that makes you crazy by your own definition

  8. Fauzia45 Avatar

    All one can say after hearing him talk is ;it is incredible and unbelievable!

  9.  Avatar

    All one can say after hearing him talk is ;it is incredible and unbelievable!

  10. hamid_farah Avatar
    hamid_farah

    Assad you sound like the late Saddam communication minister when he said the americans are killing themselves at the gates of Baghdad. Yes Bashar the protesters are gunning people like animals in the streets of Homs.. you’re so crazy and devious and ignorant and you will die like a rat you are.. even Saddam was angel next to you.

    1. true, but you have to admit that bagdad bob was very funny and harmless to ther point when he finaly was caught he was set free not long after .lol

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar

        Yes Geo. Every war has it’s ludicrous moments. (Every election too, it seems. 😉
        Love it when they broadcast stupidity everywhere, in the belief they will look better for it.

  11.  Avatar

    Assad you sound like the late Saddam communication minister when he said the americans are killing themselves at the gates of Baghdad. Yes Bashar the protesters are gunning people like animals in the streets of Homs.. you’re so crazy and devious and ignorant and you will die like a rat you are.. even Saddam was angel next to you.

    1. true, but you have to admit that bagdad bob was very funny and harmless to ther point when he finaly was caught he was set free not long after .lol

      1.  Avatar

        Yes Geo. Every war has it’s ludicrous moments. (Every election too, it seems. 😉
        Love it when they broadcast stupidity everywhere, in the belief they will look better for it.

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