My country and me, we are part of this region, we’re not separated. We cannot discuss it as Syria or as me ; it should be as part, as a whole, as comprehensive. That’s how we have to look at it.
BASHAR AL-ASSADMy country and me, we are part of this region, we’re not separated. We cannot discuss it as Syria or as me ; it should be as part, as a whole, as comprehensive. That’s how we have to look at it.
BASHAR AL-ASSADNone of us and none of the Arabs trust Israel.
BASHAR AL-ASSADHamas will not disappear. Hamas will not raise the white flag. Hamas has the trust of the people, and anyone who wishes to destroy it must destroy an entire people.
BASHAR AL-ASSADHistory teaches us that nobody can prevent a resistance group from arming when it has the support of the people.
BASHAR AL-ASSADEvery friend of Syria is looking for peaceful solution, and we are convinced about that. We have this advice, and without this advice we are convinced about it.
BASHAR AL-ASSADLook at the results of regime change in Iraq. You can’t possibly claim that it was successful.
BASHAR AL-ASSADYou in Lebanon, your power is no match to Israel. Israel, militarily, is more powerful than you and maybe it is more powerful than all the Arab countries, or most of them.
BASHAR AL-ASSADThe sarin gas is a very primitive gas. You can have it done in the backyard of a house ; it’s a very primitive gas. So, it’s not something complicated.
BASHAR AL-ASSADIf you ask Americans whether they’ve been successful at sealing the border with Mexico, they’ll tell you that it’s a very difficult proposition.
BASHAR AL-ASSADI will tell [Barack Obama] very simply : present what you have as evidence to the public, be transparent.
BASHAR AL-ASSADAny cooperation that doesn’t go through the Syrian government is not legal. If it’s not legal, we cannot cooperate with, and we don’t recognize and we don’t accept.
BASHAR AL-ASSADWe are worried that rebels are taking control in many countries, and look at the results now. Are you satisfied as an American ? What are the results ? Nothing. Very bad – nothing good.
BASHAR AL-ASSADIf the American administration want to support Al-Qaeda – go ahead. That’s what we have to tell them, go ahead and support Al-Qaeda, but don’t talk about rebels and free Syrian army.
BASHAR AL-ASSADIf it’s not a national army, it cannot have the support, and if it doesn’t have the public support of every sect, it cannot do its job and advance recently. It cannot. The army of the family doesn’t make national war.
BASHAR AL-ASSADFrom Russia for example, we have political support, which is different from the cooperation. We have cooperation for 60 years now, but now we have political support.
BASHAR AL-ASSADWe don’t discuss this issue [ chemical weapons ] in public because we never said that we have it, and we never said that we don’t have it. It’s a Syrian issue ; it’s a military issue we never discuss in public with anyone.
BASHAR AL-ASSAD