Syria's Assad Says West to Blame for France Attacks
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Western "shortsightedness" and "support for terrorism" in the revolt against his rule were to blame for last week's attacks in Paris, state media reported Wednesday.
In his first reaction to the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket which killed 17 people, Assad said he had repeatedly warned Western governments that their support for rebel groups in Syria risked a blowback of violence at home.
"We need to remind many in the West that we have warned of such incidents since the beginning of the crisis in Syria," he told Czech newspaper Literarni Noviny in an interview to be published on Thursday.
"We kept saying you must not support terrorists or give them political cover, or else this will impact your countries and your peoples," he said in excerpts carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency.
Ever since a revolt broke out against Damascus in 2011, Assad has made no distinction between peaceful and armed opponents.
He has also used the term "terrorist" to refer to all armed rebels, both the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and the jihadist groups that now dominate the revolt.
Assad said that Western leaders, like those of Syria's former colonial ruler France, who had championed his removal had been "short-sighted and narrow-minded".
"What happened in France has proven that everything we said was right," he said.
14 January 2015, 14:47
138
I am the_roar: I am a regular poster on naharnet. I have 20 fake accounts and I live on this forum 24/7. I make fake accounts and insult people when I have no argument or debate. I am a Shia who pretends not to speak Arabic and claims to live in Australia. I know every street in Lebanon and every MP's name despite my claim that I am 3rd generation Australian and having never been to Lebanon. I lie and lie and lie and think people believe me.
14 January 2015, 14:50
137
This man cannot be called a human being. He has killed women and children, tortured and incapacitated hundreds of thousands of people, buried people ALIVE and he talks about terrorism. Absolute evil
14 January 2015, 15:12
105
Well... i think that Mr. Bashar has created a hornets nest. He has no lessons to give to no one. For decades, he and his father have terrorized, tortured and murdered whoever was not on their side in their country. Every time the people of Syria or free spirits have raised their voices, he assassinated them, jailed them, or forced them to exile. He... is the one who created a prosperous land for terrorism, fanaticism, and extremism. No one else but him and his family are to blame for this terrible situation. His violent methods nourished this anger and fanaticism... what comes around goes around Bashar...
14 January 2015, 15:14
104
It is not by being the only candidate to the presidency and gathering 99% of the votes that the world/syria will get better...
Leaders of the world warned you when you came to power... there was hope that you would open up your country but nooooo... you knew better huh... well... thanks for the mess!
14 January 2015, 15:24
105
Who's to blame #2
Russian President Vladimir Putin: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could have avoided civil war by responding more quickly to demands for political change. The country was ripe for serious changes, and the leadership should have felt that in time and started making changes. Then what is happening would not have happened" - Jun 11, 2013
14 January 2015, 15:24
105
Who's to blame #1
Syrian VP Farouk Al-Sharaa, in an Al-Akhbar Exclusive: "At the beginning of the mobilization, the authorities begged for the appearance of a single armed person or a sniper at the top of one of the buildings. I do not deny that some of us acted as if the dialogue was unnecessary and whispered this to the leadership. So it distanced itself under the pretext that the internal and external opposition saw it as one of the regime’s charades. In the end, this finished off the political dialogue and opened the doors wide for the dialogue of bullets and guns. The drop in the number of peaceful protesters led one way or another to the rise in militants. The way events are heading will lead to an uncomfortable place where things will definitely go from bad to worse." - Dec 17, 2012
14 January 2015, 15:26
105
Who's to blame #3
Mohammad Ali Sobhani current advisor in Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Iran’s former envoy to Lebanon from 1997 to 2005: "The Syrian crisis started with the detention of youths who went out protesting. This behavior continued until [the uprising] turned into a war, had the government calmed people and played its role, we would not have faced the current political and sectarian conflict in Syria" - Nov 27, 2014
14 January 2015, 15:50
106
Northern:
This is THE Butcher and THE expert in all massacres
14 January 2015, 16:30
104
when the Lebanon army join forces with ISIL to fight the HA terrorism in the region!!!???
14 January 2015, 19:12
52
lol "cutie" & "sweetie pie".. you two are absolutely hilarious (in a pathetic kinda way) with your little show.
you really think anyone falls for your stories about your imaginary friend?
14 January 2015, 19:32
22
The same people posting above celebrated the outbreak of the Syrian war & assured us that Assad will be hanging upside down within 3 weeks.
more than 3 years later , they are still posting about him !
These are the type of posters one would take seriously, right?
lol@ 3 weeks
14 January 2015, 20:05
31
Are you refering to Michel Aoun Roar? He told us 3 years ago that it will all be over by next Tuesday...:)
14 January 2015, 20:10
22
No I was referring to you & your likes..show me where Aoun said Assad will be hanged within 3 weeks ..if you can, then he belongs with you lot
