Assad: Europe 'Would Pay Price' for Arming Rebels
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syrian President Bashar Assad warned Monday that European powers would "pay the price" if they sent weapons to rebel forces seeking to topple him.
"If the Europeans deliver weapons, then Europe's backyard will become terrorist, and Europe will pay the price for it," he was quoted as saying by German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Sending weapons to rebels would lead to terrorism in Europe, he said according to an interview to appear in Tuesday's edition of the newspaper.
"Terrorists will return, battle-hardened and with an extremist ideology," he was quoted as saying.
Assad pointed to one rebel faction, the Nusra Front, and said: "It represents the same ideology" as al-Qaida and "aims to establish an Islamic state".
Assad also denied U.S., British and French claims that his forces had used chemical weapons against his people during the escalating conflict in Syria.
"If Paris, London and Washington had any evidence for their claims, they would have submitted it to the global public," said Assad, whose comments were published in German.
"Everything that is being said about the use of chemical weapons is a continuation of the lies about Syria," he added. "It is the attempt to justify more military interference."
Assad added that the charges that his forces had used chemical weapons made no sense if the alleged death toll from their use was 150 people.
"Weapons of mass destruction are capable of killing hundreds or thousands at once. That's why they are used," Assad said.
"It is therefore illogical to use chemical weapons to kill numbers of people that could be achieved with the use of conventional weapons."
The conflict in Syria was set to dominate a G8 summit starting in Northern Ireland on Monday, with the Assad regime's ally Moscow expected to come under pressure from Western powers.
Washington said last week it would provide Syria's rebels with military support after it determined that the regime had used chemical weapons.
Both London and Paris have discussed the possibility of sending weapons to the fighters that are battling the Syrian government after the EU lifted an arms embargo.
Assad labelled the insurgents as terrorists and denied any blame for the escalation of the conflict, while defending cooperation with Russia and Iran as legitimate support.
He accused countries backing the rebels, also including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, of "a blatant violation of international law and the sovereignty of the country" that aims to destabilize Syria and "create chaos and backwardness".
He accused former colonial powers Britain and France of seeking "lackeys and puppets" in the region but warned that destabilizing Syria would cause regional turmoil.
"Every time one tinkers with the borders in the region, it means the map is redrawn. This has a domino effect that no-one can control."
17 June 2013, 18:42
42
Pay the price
1) No more torture of 15 year old boys
2) no more rapes of females of ALL ages by shia extremist lebanese & iraqis
3) Freedoom for all
4) hezbshaytan being weakend & a knock on effect would be a stronger Lebanese state
What a BARGAIN
18 June 2013, 01:07
21
mowaten don't be so proud of your bashar regime... coz the one you support is no better, so stop picturing him as a saint and the other side as the evils just for the sake of your inconditional support of hezbis and bashar...
"In March of this year, the United Nations human rights chief, Navi Pillay, stated in an interview that security forces in Syria are systematically detaining and torturing children with the approval or complicity of President Bashar Assad. “They’ve gone for the children, for whatever purpose, in large numbers, hundreds detained and tortured,” she said. “It’s just horrendous, children shot in the knees, held together with adults, in really inhumane conditions, denied medical treatment for their injuries, either held as hostages, or held as sources of information” (BBC).
18 June 2013, 11:47
20
"a political statement, unsupported by any material evidence"
funny because it comes from the same article from an NGO denouncing young girls being married, political statement too? biased article them dammit!
you are too ridiculous mowaten in your rage to defend bashar....
18 June 2013, 11:47
21
"a political statement, unsupported by any material evidence"
funny because it comes from the same article from an NGO denouncing young girls being married, political statement too? biased article them dammit!
you are too ridiculous mowaten in your rage to defend bashar....
18 June 2013, 17:26
01
Especially your type older men in their 40s - to 70year old pedophiles marrying the vulnerable under age Syrian refugee girls as young as 13 yrs of age , lak tfeh ! Type in " Syrian refugee / under age marriage " .
17 June 2013, 18:46
35
unlike you apparently.....unlike you apparently. ....unlike you apparently. ... What a lame comeback from the head conditioned sheep.
17 June 2013, 21:29
30
happy you are part of the 70% and proud of it... i let you with your figures and carry on your baathist propaganda on this site... enjoy your dictatorship!
17 June 2013, 18:43
22
well, can you deny the fact that abu huraryra bandits with weapons are no danger for Europe, and Turkey??
17 June 2013, 18:56
30
I thought Europe did not exist as far as this thug is concerned?
17 June 2013, 18:56
30
Wow, we are all getting worried. Ha,ha.
What does he have that can make us "pay the price"? Long range missile?
Submarines with ICBM's?
Or perhaps he is going to send us a few boats loaded with Hizaballah fighters?
17 June 2013, 23:19
20
go and read about what iranian priests say about the iranian regime....
18 June 2013, 11:35
30
mowaten just read CHRISTIAN iranian sites dealing with this problem but you won't read them, bad for your master's image....
18 June 2013, 11:41
30
"terrorists in iraq came mostly from saudi"
so what? stating the obvious? but you hezbis believe that as long as we are agaisnt you and iran means we support saudis... typical binary minds.
when it comes to telling you what iranians do you just turn your eyes and label it as propaganda, political statements, sionist lies... see the difference baby boy?
prove how brainwash you are... we keep telling you that iranians are no better than saudis but you won't listen to that coz it makes your brain bug!
"how can they be against saudis and iranians? impossible" LOL...
so please spare us your saudi qatari facts coz we know them and concentrate on the lies and crimes of your beloved iranian regime that you keep denying it'll open your shallow mind....
18 June 2013, 12:27
20
"why defend mahdi who was saying they were sent by bashar?"
as if you didn't know that islamists are manipulated by both bashar and saudis according to their respective interests... who harboured islamists groups in syria? who trained sunni islamists in the bekaa?
"give me the links peace, "
you are big enough to google them no? i already posted links about that but you keep denying the obvious so just educate yourself alone if you are really keen on knowing what is going on in iran then come and talk....
18 June 2013, 13:36
20
as you claim to be the most intelligent here and smarter than anyone else it seems that you are UNABLE to search alone...
or you do not want to learn about iranian truths...
so you should go and play elsewhere... seems you are just an idiot refusing to learn about both sides of the iranian coin... typical from brainwashed fanatics...
18 June 2013, 13:48
30
i have sources but no need to feed a pig with jam... so educate yourself alone baby boy, you will always deny those sites so what the need to give them?
just for the fun of contradicting but substance? zero.... you will always be in denial, all fanatics are in denial till it s too late, you are no exception so go and play the strong hezbi guy elsewhere poor loser....
18 June 2013, 14:11
30
LOL mowaten... and you call yourself intelligent? one who is would go and do research by himself ... if i give you anything you would deny everything... as usual... so why waste my time.
you are just proving you refuse to do any research that would go against your iranian friends... but objective? LOL no way! you wouldn't admit the christian persecutions in iran saying it is a western campaign against the regime!
so just go and see for yourself, but you wouldn't do that prefering to appear smart here by saying i have nothing, so convenient, so easy for a brainless mind....
if you don't want to then continue your childish game, as for me end of discussion unless you come up with articles dealing with christian persecutions in iran...
18 June 2013, 16:08
30
israel has been hitting rebal ammunition in syria......not assads or hezb weapons.
wake up.
