Al-Assad: France Was a Spearhead in Supporting Terrorism

Local Editor

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to France 2 TV. He confirmed the right of his people to ask for freedom and that the government should support that freedom under the constitution.

The Syrian president blasted France and other western nations for extending support to Takfiri terrorists across Syria, a "national Syrian coalition" as the interviewer put it.

He stated that those people "who are supported now, who have Western armaments, they became "ISIL"."

Hence, the Syrian leader argued, "France and other countries don't have the right to support anyone within our country. This is a breach of the international law, this is a breach of our sovereignty, this is a breach of the values... One of these values is democracy. Is it democracy to send armaments to terrorists?"

Al-Assad added, "Those people you called moderate, in 2012 before the rise of "ISIL" and before the West acknowledged the existence of al-Qaeda faction which is al-Nusra, they published videos where they eat the heart of a Syrian soldier, where they dismember other victims, and where they behead others."

Furthermore, the Syrian president repudiated the utilization of any indiscriminate weapons like barrel bombs, which have devastating effects on civilians.

He commented, "when you want to talk about indiscriminate killing, it's not about the weapon; it's about the way you use it, and the proof of that is the drones, the American drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan, they killed more civilians than terrorists."

In a like manner,, President al-Assad had flatly denied reports that his government was behind an alleged chlorine gas attack in the northwestern Idlib province last month.

"We didn't use it [chlorine gas]. We don't need to use it. We have our regular armaments, and we could achieve our goals without it," said al-Assad.

While insisting that Damascus had never used chlorine gas in its battle against foreign-sponsored terrorists, he further pointed out that a Syrian chemical factory in north of the country near the Turkish border remained under the control of foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists and even international inspectors had not been allowed to visit the plant.

During the interview, President Assad further insisted that Washington was responsible for the creation of the "ISIL" Takfiri terrorist group, adding that the notorious terror enterprise was established in Iraq back in 2006 when the country was in control of the US-led military forces.

"The "ISIL" was created in Iraq in 2006 under the supervision of the Americans. I wasn't in Iraq. I wasn't controlling Iraq. The Americans controlled Iraq, and "ISIL" came from Iraq to Syria," he said.

The Syrian president also acknowledged inviting the Lebanese resistance movement Hizbullah to his country to help in the battle against the foreign-sponsored militants, but denied accusations from the foreign-backed opposition and Saudi Arabia that Iran had troops on the ground in Syria.

"We invited Hizbullah, but not the Iranians. There are no Iranian troops in Syria and they have not sent any force," said Assad.

"We have [had] regular relations with Iran for more than three decades. We have commanders, officers coming and going between the two countries based on the cooperation that [has] existed between us for a long time," he added.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team