Assad says intervention will burn region
In an interview with Britain's Sunday Telegraph, Assad said that such an intervention against his regime will cause 'another Afghanistan'
In an interview with Britain's Sunday Telegraph, Assad said that such an intervention against his regime will cause "another Afghanistan."
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Assad's rare interview comes after an intensification of the seven-month uprising against his regime following the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The unrest in Syria could send unsettling ripples through the region, as Damascus' web of alliances extends to Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran's Shiite theocracy.
Anti-Assad protest in Homs (Photo: Reuters)
Syria "is the fault line, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake," Assad said.
On Sunday, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas reported that the Arab League had warned Assad that if its mediation efforts failed to stop violence in his country, international intervention would be inevitable. A meeting between an Arab League delegation and Syrian officials is set to take place in Doha Sunday.
Assad admitted that "many mistakes" had been made early on, but insisted that only "terrorists" were now being targeted.
"We have very few police, only the army, who are trained to take on al-Qaeda," he said. "If you sent in your army to the streets, the same thing would happen. Now, we are only fighting terrorists. That's why the fighting is becoming much less."
Pro-regime protest in Syria (Photo: AFP)
President Assad insisted he dealt with the Arab Spring phenomenon in a different manner than other deposed leaders in the region. "We didn't go down the road of stubborn government," he said.
"Six days after (the protests began) I commenced reform. People were skeptical that the reforms were an opiate for the people, but when we started announcing the reforms, the problems started decreasing. This is when the tide started to turn. This is when people started supporting the government."
The Syrian leader claimed that "the pace of reform is not too slow. The vision needs to be mature. It would take only 15 seconds to sign a law, but if it doesn't fit your society, you'll have division … It's a very complicated society."
He described the uprising as a "struggle between Islamism and pan-Arabism (secularism), adding: "We've been fighting the Muslim Brotherhood since the 1950s and we are still fighting with them."
AFP contributed to the report
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