Assad at bay blames ‘foreign influence and terrorism’ for uprising – elections and a new constitution are promised

President Bashar al-Assad has claimed that the violent uprising against his rule is a ­result of “foreign influence and terrorism” and has pledged – to a largely disbelieving world – a new constitution and fresh elections for the country. In a speech broadcast live from Damascus University, he warned of a “foreign conspiracy” to destabilise [...]

by Marcus Papadopoulos
Friday, January 13th, 2012

President Bashar al-Assad has claimed that the violent uprising against his rule is a ­result of “foreign influence and terrorism” and has pledged – to a largely disbelieving world – a new constitution and fresh elections for the country.

In a speech broadcast live from Damascus University, he warned of a “foreign conspiracy” to destabilise his country. He said: “Regional and international parties who are trying to destabilise Syria can no longer falsify the facts and events. They turned to assassinations with regional and international media coverage. After all their attempts failed, the role of foreigners emerged. What is going on in Syria has been planned tens of years ago.” He added: “There can be no let-up for terrorism – it must be hit with an iron fist.”

President Assad’s claim of “foreign ­interference” is a reference to Western countries, principally the United States, and neighbouring countries, such as Turkey, whose relations with Damascus have long been mired with mistrust. Meanwhile claims of “terrorist activity” are a reference to Islamists, mainly from the Muslim Brotherhood, who organised armed ­insurgencies in the 1970s and ’80s against the secular regime and who are ­believed by Western intelligence agencies to have links with al Qaida.

In an attempt to cling on to power in the face of continuing protests, President Assad announced that a new constitution would be drawn up, with a referendum held on it this March, and elections held – possibly at the beginning of May.

The speech was his first public ­pronouncement since observers from the Arab League arrived last month to monitor the situation. The head of the mission, ­Sudanese General Mustafa Dabi, reported – to general derision in Western capitals – seeing “nothing frightening” in the ­flashpoint city of Homs.

President Assad’s government received a symbolic boost from its historic ally Russia last weekend when a Russian naval task force, led by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, docked at the port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval base. The Syrian defence minister, visiting the flotilla, praised the historic relations between Damascus and Moscow

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  • Anonymous

    They always do, from Mugabe to Saddam to well  it would take to long to write all the names, fact is once this starts you  blame other countries.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Will-Podmore/780339646 Will Podmore

    In a direct echo of the war on Libya, France has formally recognised the opposition Syrian National Council and proposed that international troops should ‘protect civilians’. The SNC is an Istanbul-based group of Syrians, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, launched on 2 October.
    The upheaval in Syria is not a peaceful grass-roots movement, as in Tunisia. Weapons are being smuggled in from Turkey and Iraq to Sunni rebels who are funded and trained by the USA and have links to Israel. They join peaceful protests to attack Assad forces, as in Jisr al-Shagour in June, where they inflicted heavy casualties.
    They pay Sunni tribal chiefs to put people on the streets, and work with International Non-Governmental Organisations to feed stories of atrocities to Western media to give NATO the excuse it wants to intervene.
    NATO military planning on Syria is already ‘well underway’. The SNC is in talks with Turkey to set up a secure zone inside Syria to give the Free Syrian Army, its armed wing, a safe base. A source in the French military said, “If the Syrian rebels manage to hold a position (a bit like Benghazi in Libya) all cards are on the table.”
    On 23 November, French foreign minister Alain Juppé said, “We will ask our European partners about the possibility of launching humanitarian operations to alleviate the suffering of the population … Should we create humanitarian corridors, or humanitarian zones?” So NATO troops could be used to set up military bases. MEP Guy Verhofstadt said the EU should “examine the possibility of a no-fly zone on the border with Turkey to safeguard civilians in that region.”

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