British Ambassador Says Syria Regime Will Fall by Year's End
The Syrian regime will collapse before the end of the year, Britain's ambassador to Damascus predicted in an interview published Tuesday.
Syria is "like a dam with fissures in it," Simon Collis told The Times newspaper. "The pressure is building up and one quite probable scenario is that, when it breaks, it will do so very quickly.
"I personally don't think it will last to the end of the year, and it could well be before that," Collis said, adding that he believed the Syrian military was overstretched and the country's economy disintegrating.
Britain withdrew its diplomatic staff from Syria last week fearing a growing risk to their safety.
Syrian forces were on Tuesday pursuing armed rebels in several parts of the country, while the Red Cross were negotiating for a fourth day to be allowed to deliver aid to the battered Baba Amr district of the central city of Homs.
"It is possible that some event will trigger a very rapid collapse," said Collis, estimating that only a fifth of the Syrian population continued to support the regime.
Collis described the violence in Homs, which was under siege for nearly four weeks until Thursday when rebel fighters retreated, as a "mini-Stalingrad" in reference to the World War II battle for the Soviet city that killed hundreds of thousands.
"The regime's support base is becoming increasingly fragile as increasing numbers of people realize that it's doomed," Collis said.
The Times said Collis had accused Iran of giving the Syrian regime support such as riot-control equipment, intelligence-gathering technology and advice on "how to conduct their repression more effectively".
Russia was also providing Syria with the tanks and heavy artillery that were killing civilians, Collis said, which was "something that should be highlighted.”
Source: Agence France Presse
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