Assad vows to crush opposition with 'iron fist'

SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad has pledged to remain in power and crush conspirators and “terrorists” with an “iron fist”.

Speaking for the first time since June, Dr Assad, looking thin and haggard, again said that foreign powers and armed groups were behind Syrian unrest instead of “true revolutionaries”, counting himself among their number.

“Our priority . . . is to regain security in which we basked for decades. And this can only be achieved by hitting the terrorists with an iron fist,” he said during a rambling 100-minute speech at Damascus university. “We will not be lenient with those who work with outsiders against the country.”

Blaming foreign media for misrepresenting the situation, he said he had never ordered the security forces or army to fire on protesters and praised the military for defending the country.

He offered to expand the government to include all shades of opinion and said a referendum on the new constitution would be held in March and multiparty parliamentary elections could take place in May. But he said that “if reform is forced, it will fail. Reform for us is the natural path.” He spoke of unspecified mistakes made by the authorities but warned that Syria could experience anarchy if the regime falls. “There is a race between terrorism and reform,” he added.

Dr Assad castigated the divided Arab League for failing over six decades to protect Arab interests. His government has been vexed by Syria’s humiliating suspension from the league. Damascus has also been angered by what it regards as the anti-regime activities of the league’s six-member committee dealing with unrest in the country. Committee chairman Qatar has been strongly critical of Syria.

He argued that it had been his idea to send Arab monitors to Syria and said Damascus would not dismiss an Arab-fashioned solution if Syrian sovereignty is respected.

With the aim of reassuring Syrians, he concluded, “We will declare victory soon.” Gulf-based opponent Louay Safi, speaking on al-Jazeera, found the address defensive and divorced from reality and claimed Dr Assad was “in denial”. Opposition activists in Syria said regime opponents took to the streets across the country to protest against Dr Assad’s address and claimed 10 to 28 people had been killed.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the exiled opposition Syrian National Council, argued that the regime’s stand was dangerous because Dr Assad insisted “on using violence against our people, considered the revolution a terrorist conspiracy and thus undercut any Arab or non-Arab initiative to find a political solution”.

Dr Ghalioun, whose tenure has been extended for only one month due to differences over policy, urged the league to refer Syria to the UN Security Council with the aim of securing intervention, a move rejected by other opposition groups.

The league’s mission to monitor Syria’s implementation of the peace plan is meant to put an end to violence, effect the withdrawal of troops from urban areas, secure the release of prisoners and start dialogue between government and opposition. At present 165 monitors are operating in Syria and that number is set to be boosted to 200 in coming days.

The league has criticised the Syrian government for “failing to provide adequate protection” for 11 mission members, including two Kuwaiti army officers, who were lightly injured in the coastal city of Latakia.

League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi was quoted as blaming the government and opposition for instigating assaults on observers. Fearing a flood of refugees into Turkey, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former ally of Dr Assad, has warned that Syria is “heading toward a religious, sectarian, racial war”.