Syrian Opposition Says Assad's Confidence 'Disgusting'

Syrian opposition member Burhan Ghalioun said on Thursday it was "disgusting" to hear that President Bashar Assad expressed confidence after his forces inflicted two major defeats on rebels.

"It is disgusting and repulsive that he speaks of victory after he destroyed his country, killed tens of thousands and forced into exile half the population, after a period of two and a half years," Ghalioun told Agence France Presse.

Speaking to mark Army Day, Assad said on Thursday he was "sure of victory."

"If we in Syria were not sure of victory, we would not have had the will to resist nor been able to persevere in the face of more than two years of aggression," Assad said.

His remarks are "repugnant to the Syrians as well as the rest of the world," Ghalioun said.

He added that Assad "speaks of strength while his army is collapsing and depending on mercenaries of Hizbullah and Iran to defend the regime."

Assad was said to have made his first known trip outside of the capital in more than a year, to visit a former rebel bastion nearby now largely in the hands of loyalists.

State television reported that Assad visited Daraya, a mostly Sunni town neighboring rebel districts south of Damascus, to inspect military units on Army Day.

His remarks came after Khaldiyeh, in the strategic central city of Homs, was seized by troops on Monday from rebels who had held it for almost two years.

Asked about on the announcement of an upcoming U.N. mission to investigate three sites in Syria, where the use of chemical weapons has been reported, Ghalioun said "the Syrian regime has accepted this mission following heavy international pressure... but after erasing the traces of the crime."

"I doubt that the regime will cooperate with the mission," Ghalioun added, indicating that the investigation should "focus on 13 sites, not just three."

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Wednesday the mission "will travel to Syria as soon as possible to contemporaneously investigate three of the reported incidents."

The United Nations says reports on 13 different chemical attacks have been made.

The 28-month conflict has killed more than 100,000 people, according to the United Nations, while U.N. efforts to convene a Russian- and U.S.-backed peace conference have stalled.