It has become clear in recent weeks that a change in the balance of power would have to precede any form of negotiation with the Assad regime. This change has now been demonstrated in the arming of the opposition, enabling it to deter the regime’s army, break its siege of Homs, and expedite its collapse in and around Damascus.
The full text of the interview conducted by The Sunday Times with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
Syria is open to all initiatives that aim at solving the crisis and
economy is strong, Syria’s Prime Minister has said.
Minister of information Omran al-Zoubi said Syria and the Syrian people are fighting terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda and supported directly by Qatar, the Turkish government and many other countries that have agendas in the region.
Gen. al-Freij said that the Israeli enemy instructed the armed terrorist groups to attack Syria’s air defenses because the Israeli enemy knows that Syria has air defenses that cover the whole country and prevent its aircrafts from carrying out any violation without the knowledge of the Syrian Army.
The Syrian opposition warned Israel that the Syrian people will always consider it our main strategic enemy, and promised to prevent Israel from repeating this act.
In light of the absence of any signs pointing to an imminent military settlement or political solution, the opposition has no choice but to go back to the Syrian domestic scene and rely on its political and military powers to even out the balance of powers and impose the solution wanted by the Syrians.
Israel is always interested in preoccupying its Arab neighbors in civil wars, and it is surely interested in dismantling Syria into small Kurdish, Alawite, Christian, Druze and Sunni mini-states. But isn’t Israel afraid of the presence of Al-Qaeda in a collapsed Syria?
Female volunteers are joining the so-called the National Defense Forces, which gather together existing popular committees of pro-regime civilian fighters under a new, better-trained and armed hierarchy.
Evidence has been found suggesting that Syria’s military used chemical weapons against its own people last month, in what one Israeli intelligence official said last night was a test to gauge the reaction of the US and its allies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi expressed his country’s support to President Bashar al-Assad’s initiative to resolve the crisis in Syria.
Iran is a difficult puzzle to resolve. After losing Syria, as well as losing half of its oil revenue as a result of Western sanctions, Tehran may be obliged to agree to a truce and the freezing of its nuclear program. Even if this were to happen, Gulf States are still facing numerous threats, particularly with the al-Maliki government in Iraq explicitly falling under Iran’s sway.
The damage done by playing for time has extended to areas outside Syria in the last two months. The members of the alliance supporting Assad, from Russia and Iran to Lebanon, have found the opportunity to play off the regional situation; they have taken steps, whose importance varies one country to another.
