Assad: National Dialogue in Progress, Syria Target of Foreign Conspiracies

Local Editor

Addressing the Syrians for the third time since the beginning of the unrest in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad said that national dialogue was in progress in the country. Yet he vowed not to reform the country under chaos, explaining that Syria has been a target of foreign conspiracies for geopolitical and other reasons.

In a speech delivered at Damascus University on Monday noon, al-Assad promised parliamentary elections in August and a complete reform package by September.
He noted that he would ask the justice ministry to study expanding a recent amnesty, but said it was important to differentiate between "saboteurs" and people with legitimate demands.

He also called on all refugees to return to their homes, and guaranteed their safety, saying that the "army is meant to protect the citizens."
Al-Assad said his government was setting up a process of national dialogue through an authority designated for the purpose. He said that about 100 people from various backgrounds had been invited participate in the process.

He also said that Syria was "at a turning point after difficult days", pledging the country would emerge stronger in the face of the scheming against it.
He offered his condolences to the families of martyrs who fell during the unrest rocking the country since mid-March, saying there could be "no development without stability, no reform in the face of sabotage and chaos."

He also classified those who were taking part in the current unrest into three broad categories: "those who were peaceful and had legitimate concerns; those who were vandals and outlaws and finally radical and blasphemous intellectuals".