Syria’s Assad denies ‘crazy’ crackdown
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad defiantly denies ordering his troops to kill peaceful demonstrators saying only a “crazy leader” kills his own people, during an interview with US broadcaster ABC.
In an interview with journalist Barbara Walters President Assad denied he ordered a crackdown and blamed the violence on criminals and terrorists.
“Most of the people that have been killed are supporters of the government, not vice versa,” he said
Assad referred to the many images emerging from Syria and depicting abuse and security forces’ brutality, saying: “How did you verify those pictures. That’s why you are talking about false allegations and distortions of reality. We don’t kill our people, no government in the world kills its people. This is led by crazy persons.”
According to a United Nations report released last week, “many more” than 4,000 civilians have been killed and that Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity.
President Assad dismissed the UN report by saying: “Who said that the United Nations is a credible institution?”
He also claimed that any wrongdoings that may have occurred were not linked to him. When asked by Walters whether he thought his security forces cracked down too hard, the Syrian president said: “They are not my fault, they are military forces that belong to the government, I don’t own then, I’m [the] president, so they’re not my fault.”
Read more: Jonathan Miller on asking difficult questions in Damascus
“But you have to give the order,” Walters asked, to which he said: “No, no, no, no one’s command, no command to kill and to be brutal.”
“Every brute reaction was by an individual, not by an institution, that’s what you have to know,” he said.
“There is a difference between having a policy to crackdown and between having some mistakes committed by some officials. There is a big difference.”
Assad said he was introducing reforms and elections, starting with local elections this year, with a vote on his presidency scheduled in 2014.
“We never said we are 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 full fledged democracy.”
“I cannot feel guilty when you do your best. You feel sorry for the lives that have been lost. But you don’t feel guilty when you don’t kill people. So it’s not about guilty,” he concluded.
Aleppo gunmen
Syria’s official news agency SANA said the army fought back gunmen who tried to block the Aleppo highway in the tense Hama district on Wednesday and killed one “terrorist”.
Experts defused seven improvised bombs in Hama district, it said. An army pilot was shot in front of his home, the agency said.
An activist website said an army armoured personnel carrier was destroyed in clashes between troops and defectors near the radio station in the city of Saraqeb on the Hama-Aleppo highway. Heavy gunfire was reported in Hama city on Wednesday afternoon.
On the tense border with Turkey, Syrian troops opened fire in sustained bursts on Wednesday, according to residents of Turkish villages.
In an interview with journalist Barbara Walters President Assad denied he ordered a crackdown and blamed the violence on criminals and terrorists.
“Most of the people that have been killed are supporters of the government, not vice versa,” he said
Assad referred to the many images emerging from Syria and depicting abuse and security forces’ brutality, saying: “How did you verify those pictures. That’s why you are talking about false allegations and distortions of reality. We don’t kill our people, no government in the world kills its people. This is led by crazy persons.”
According to a United Nations report released last week, “many more” than 4,000 civilians have been killed and that Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity.
President Assad dismissed the UN report by saying: “Who said that the United Nations is a credible institution?”
He also claimed that any wrongdoings that may have occurred were not linked to him. When asked by Walters whether he thought his security forces cracked down too hard, the Syrian president said: “They are not my fault, they are military forces that belong to the government, I don’t own then, I’m [the] president, so they’re not my fault.”
Read more: Jonathan Miller on asking difficult questions in Damascus
“But you have to give the order,” Walters asked, to which he said: “No, no, no, no one’s command, no command to kill and to be brutal.”
“Every brute reaction was by an individual, not by an institution, that’s what you have to know,” he said.
“There is a difference between having a policy to crackdown and between having some mistakes committed by some officials. There is a big difference.”
Assad said he was introducing reforms and elections, starting with local elections this year, with a vote on his presidency scheduled in 2014.
“We never said we are 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 full fledged democracy.”
“I cannot feel guilty when you do your best. You feel sorry for the lives that have been lost. But you don’t feel guilty when you don’t kill people. So it’s not about guilty,” he concluded.
Aleppo gunmen
Syria’s official news agency SANA said the army fought back gunmen who tried to block the Aleppo highway in the tense Hama district on Wednesday and killed one “terrorist”.
Experts defused seven improvised bombs in Hama district, it said. An army pilot was shot in front of his home, the agency said.
An activist website said an army armoured personnel carrier was destroyed in clashes between troops and defectors near the radio station in the city of Saraqeb on the Hama-Aleppo highway. Heavy gunfire was reported in Hama city on Wednesday afternoon.
On the tense border with Turkey, Syrian troops opened fire in sustained bursts on Wednesday, according to residents of Turkish villages.