| Information |  | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
| ||
| Information | | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
| ||
03Mar13
Assad and British Official Trade Verbal Blows Over Syrian Conflict
Almost two years after the start of an uprising that has become a bloody civil war, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Sunday accused Britain of seeking to "militarize" the conflict, prompting a taunt from a senior official here that Mr. Assad's remarks ranked among "the most delusional" of modern times.
In an interview published in The Sunday Times of London, Mr. Assad also restated his terms for peace talks that seemed likely to preclude any negotiations with rebels who are pressing the Obama administration to go beyond the $60 million in nonlethal aid promised by Secretary of State John Kerry last week.
The British foreign secretary, William Hague, who has been deeply involved in the international diplomacy that has failed to end the fighting, has repeatedly indicated in recent days that he would not rule out supplying arms to the rebels at some point.
In the interview, Mr. Assad seemed to seize upon those remarks, saying, "We do not expect an arsonist to be a firefighter."
"How can we ask Britain to play a role while it is determined to militarize the problem?" he said. "How can we expect them to make the violence less while they want to send military supplies to the terrorists?" The Syrian authorities call their armed adversaries terrorists.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mr. Hague said he did not "rule out anything for the future."
"If this is going to go on for months or years or more," he said, "tens of thousands of people are going to die and countries like Iraq and Lebanon and Jordan are going to be destabilized; it is not something we can ignore.
"These are the reasons why we just can't just sit it out in Syria."
Mr. Hague plans to announce a new package of British aid for the rebels this week, but has declined to specify in advance what it contains. On Sunday, he acknowledged that one reason for Britain's reluctance so far to supply arms to the rebels was the risk that they could fall into the hands of Islamic militants, who are among those fighting to overthrow Mr. Assad.
"These things are a balance of risk," he said. "You can reach the point eventually and the loss of life is so great that you have to do something new to save lives."
In the interview with The Sunday Times of London, Mr. Assad accused the British of hypocrisy.
"The British government wants to send military aid to moderate groups in Syria knowing all too well that such moderate groups do not exist in Syria," Mr. Assad said, adding that "we all know we are now fighting Al Qaeda" and its affiliates.
By pushing to arm his adversaries, Mr. Assad said, the British government had shown itself to be "what I call detached from reality -- when you're detached from your own public opinion."
Mr. Hague responded on Sunday by saying that, after Syrian government forces launched a crackdown on peaceful protesters in March 2011, Mr. Assad seemed to have been convinced by his inner circle that he was the victim of an international conspiracy.
Referring to the Syrian leader's remarks to The Sunday Times, Mr. Hague said, "I think this will go down as one of the most delusional interviews that any national leader has given in modern times."
In the interview, Mr. Assad said he was "ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants, who surrender their arms."
"We are not going to deal with terrorists who are determined to carry weapons, to terrorize people, to kill civilians, to attack public places or private enterprises and to destroy the country," he said.
"We have opposition that are political entities and we have armed terrorists," Mr. Assad said. "We can engage in dialogue with the opposition, but we cannot engage in dialogue with terrorists. We fight terrorism."
He also warned the West of broader regional perils.
"Syria lies at the fault line geographically, politically, socially and ideologically," he said. "So playing with this fault line will have serious repercussions all over the Middle East. Any intervention will not make things better. It will only make them worse. Europe and the United States and others are going to pay the price sooner or later with the instability in this region. They do not foresee it."
His remarks illuminated the gulf between his depiction of the fighting and the perceptions of many Western, Arab and regional countries that have swung their support behind the rebels and regard the conflict, which has killed an estimated 70,000 people, as a civil war with strong sectarian overtones.
The publication of Mr. Assad's remarks came hours before Sheik Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, the leader of the Syrian opposition coalition, was reported to have paid his first visit to areas of northern Syria under the control of rebel fighters.
Reuters said Mr. Khatib crossed from Turkey to tour the towns of Jarablus and Minbij after meeting with rebel commanders and opposition politicians in the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
[Source: By Alan Cowell, The New York Times, London, 03Mar13]
 | This document has been published on 07Mar13 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |