Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday unrest
sweeping the country had become more militant but he was confident it could be
controlled and warned that any military action against his nation would
backfire.
Assad faces Western calls to
step down over his harsh crackdown on five months of protests in which the
United Nations says around 2,000 civilians have died, but he said Syria would not accept outside interference.
"As for the threat of a
military action ... any action against Syria will have greater consequences (on
those who carry it out), greater than they can tolerate," he said in an
interview broadcast on Syrian television.
"First, because of
Syria's geopolitical location and second (because of) Syrian capabilities. They
know part of it but they do not know the other parts and they will not be able
to afford the results," he said.
Syria, which borders Israel,
Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan, has regional influence because of its
alliance with Iran and its role in Lebanon, despite
ending a 29-year military presence there in 2005. It also has influence in Iraq
and supports militant groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
No country has yet proposed
the kind of action against Syria which NATO forces have carried out in support
of Libyan rebels seeking to topple Muammar Gaddafi.
But the United States and
Europe called on Assad last week to step down and Washington imposed new
sanctions, including freezing Syrian state assets and prohibiting imports of
Syrian
Syria might take advice from
countries in the region, "but we do not allow any country to interfere in
our decision," Assad said.
Assad's government has blamed
armed groups for the violence and has said more than 500 soldiers and police
have died since the unrest erupted in March.
"As for the security
situation (it) has become more militant in the recent weeks," Assad said.
"We are capable of dealing with it... I am not worried."
State news agency SANA said
on Sunday five soldiers killed by gunmen in Homs and the southern province of
Deraa were buried on Sunday.
FEBRUARY ELECTION
Assad said he expected a
parliamentary election to be held in February after a series of reforms that
would let political groups other than his Baath party take part.
"The expected time for
having the parliamentary election is February 2012," he said.
Activists dismiss his
promised political reforms and many opposition figures have rejected his call
for a national dialogue, saying there can be no discussion while security
forces continue to kill protesters.
"The regime wants to
find excuses for the repression. When Assad says he is prepared to dealwith
the Syrian uprising he means he is going to kill more protesters," Moulhem
al-Droubi, of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, said on Sunday.
Loay Safi, a Syrian activist
who teaches international relations at Georgetown University, said "armed
terrorist groups" the authorities accuse of killing civilians were
"Assad's own loyalist militia."
"He is using the same
approach of talking reform while the regime turns to more brutality and
repression, sending tanks into cities and towns and bombarding districts and
neighborhoods to deal with peaceful demands," he said.
Assad sent tanks and troops
into some of Syria's biggest cities to crush dissent during the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan, which started on August 1.
Activists said dozens of
people were arrested on Sunday during raids in northern Idlib province, while
military and security forces stormed the Khaldieh neighborhood of Homs.
On Friday, Assad's forces
killed 34 people, including four children, in Homs and Deraa, where the popular
revolt began in March, as well as in suburbs of Damascus and the ancient desert
town of Palmyra, activists said.
Syria has expelled most
independent media since the unrest began, making it difficult to verify events
on the ground.
U.N. TEAM IN SYRIA
A U.N. team arrived in Syria
on Saturday to assess humanitarian needs in the country, a U.N. official said.
The United Nations has sought access for the team since May.
"We welcome the fact that
the government has approved the humanitarian mission," said the official.
The team will "assess the
humanitarian situation and condition of basic social services and identify
initial assistance needs that could be addressed through a rapid
response," she added.
She did not say which parts
of the country the team would visit, but said the mission would continue until
Thursday.
Assad, from the minority
Alawite sect in the mostly Sunni Muslim nation, told U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon last week that all military and police operations had ceased, but
activists say dozens of protesters have been killed since then.
Encouraged by the growing
global pressure on Assad, the Syrian opposition in exile which has been meeting
in Turkey said it would set up a National
Council on Sunday to support the uprising and help fill any power vacuum should
the protests oust the Syrian leader.
Similar initiatives in the
past have failed to produce a robust umbrella group to unite the opposition,
fragmented by 41 years of harsh rule by Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad.
(Additional reporting
Suleiman al-Khalidi and Khaled Oweis; Editing by Andrew Roche)
Source : Reuters
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