Asked about a rumoured resumption of talks with French intelligence services, Assad said that contact had been made between French and Syrian officials. “We held meetings with some officials from the French intelligence services but there was no cooperation or exchange of information,” he told France 2 in an unprecedented interview with a French national channel. “If you’re seeking cooperation, both sides need to be willing,” he added, inferring that while Paris had instigated the talks, they had not sought collaboration.
He said that French representatives had visited Syria but no Syrian officials had travelled to France.
Asked about further contact with Paris, Assad said he was open to dialogue if the West “convinces us they are not supporting the terrorists”.
“How can we establish dialogue with a country that supports terrorism in our country?” he asked.
Paris closed its Damascus embassy in 2012. France’s political elite has been at loggerheads over any potential dialogue with the Assad regime, with President François Hollande strictly ruling out any official talks.
Iranian influence
Assad said he had invited Hezbollah militants to fight alongside his regime but he denied the presence of Iranian troops in Syria.
Iran is Assad’s main regional ally, and Tehran has acknowledged sending military advisers to assist his forces in their fight against rebels and jihadist militants.
However it has denied accusations from opposition forces and Saudi Arabia that it has troops on the ground in Syria.
“We invited Hezbollah, but not the Iranians. There are no Iranian troops in Syria and they have not sent any troops,” Assad said.
Lebanon’s Shiite group, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has helped Assad make gains against rebels opposing his regime.
'US helped create Islamic State'
In the wide-ranging interview the Syrian leader also denied being behind alleged chemical attacks in north-western Idlib province last month, and accused the United States of overseeing the creation of the Islamic State militant group.
“The IS was created in Iraq in 2006 under the supervision of the Americans. The IS came from Iraq to Syria because chaos is contagious,” he said.
“Is it democratic to send weapons to terrorists and to support them? So I have the right to support the terrorists who attacked Charlie Hebdo for example?”
Assad was scathing about efforts of the US-led coalition fighting IS, saying the grouping was “not serious”.
“If you compare the number of air strikes carried out by the coalition composed of 60 states compared to those by our small state you will notice we sometimes strike ten times more than the coalition in one day. Is that serious?
“It took them four months to free what their media calls the town of Kobane on the Turkish border. How can you say this coalition is effective? They are not serious and that is why they are not helping anyone in the region.”
'What are barrel bombs?'
Assad reiterated denials of the use of barrel bombs in response to a question about alleged attacks on Idlib reported by Human Rights Watch.
“What are barrel bombs?” Assad asked, referring to improvised containers packed with chemicals, shrapnel or other explosives.
“We haven’t used chlorine gas and we don’t need to,” he said.
More than 215,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011 that spiralled into a war after a regime crackdown.
Repeated diplomatic attempts to end the fighting have failed.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
20/4/15
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Europe Increasingly Accepting Assad in IS Fight ...
ReplyDeleteEuropean politicians and delegations are appearing increasingly in Damascus, and recently a group of Belgian lawmakers met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Before the rise of the jihadist Islamic State, and as the revolution against Assad unfolded and was brutally suppressed by him, Western politicians gave the Syrian capital a wide berth and joined the chorus demanding the Syrian president step down.
While no major Western leader has met recently with the Syrian president, some, including from countries that withdrew their ambassadors from Syria, are now saying that while Assad’s regime is brutal, the jihadists of the so-called Islamic State present a threat to the West, and that intelligence cooperation and greater communication with Damascus is needed to help combat them.........voanews.com
20/4/15
U.S. says might talk to Iran about regional stability, cites Syria...
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. State Department said on Monday it might talk with Iran about promoting regional stability, noting it had been open to including Iran in past efforts to achieve a Syrian peace deal if Tehran had altered its policy.
But it drew a distinction between talking to Iran about issues beyond its nuclear program and actually working with Tehran on such matters, something Washington has ruled out.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf made the comments when asked about a call by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif in a New York Times opinion piece for regional dialogue to address the crises in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Washington was put in an awkward position since it blames Tehran for much of the instability and because it does not wish to upset Gulf Arab allies who fear a nuclear deal being negotiated with Iran may pave the way to a wider U.S.-Iranian entente.
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Assad: la France doit cesser de soutenir les terroristes...
ReplyDelete"C'est vous qui avez aidé les terroristes (...). Comment peut-on avoir un dialogue avec un pays qui soutient les terroristes? (...) Que le gouvernement français cesse son appui aux terroristes dans mon pays", s’est indigné le leader syrien.
Interviewé dans le 20 heures de la chaîne France 2, diffusé lundi soir, le président syrien Bachar el-Assad a démenti utiliser des armes chimiques et a accusé la France de soutenir les terroristes.
"Dès les premières semaines du conflit, des terroristes se sont infiltrés en Syrie avec l'appui d'Etats occidentaux et régionaux", a-t-il affirmé alors que le présentateur lui demandait qu'elle était sa responsabilité dans la guerre qui ravage son pays.
"C'est vous qui avez aidé les terroristes (…). Comment peut-on avoir un dialogue avec un pays qui soutient les terroristes? (…) Que le gouvernement français cesse son appui aux terroristes dans mon pays", s’est indigné le leader syrien.
Interrogé sur l'usage d'armes non conventionnelles car non ciblées, notamment des barils explosifs largués par les airs, le président syrien nie fermement. "Nous n'avons jamais entendu parler, au sein de notre armée, d'armes aveugles», affirme Bachar el-Assad. "Nous avons des bombes conventionnelles et des armements classiques.".....http://sptnkne.ws/eHr
21/4/15