Syria's Assad warns of 'earthquake' if West intervenes
 

Ohh another war on the horizin ?

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned of an "earthquake" if the West intervenes in his country.

In a rare interview with the UK's Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Mr Assad said involvement risked transforming Syria into "another Afghanistan".

His comments came after the UN secretary-general made a new call for the repression to end.

At least 50 civilians and members of the security forces were killed on Saturday, according to the two sides.

Activists said 21 civilians were killed and that army tanks had shelled a historic district in the city of Homs.

The government said 20 soldiers had been killed in Homs, and 10 members of the security forces killed during an ambush of their bus in Idlib province.

More than 3,000 people have died in the unrest since protests calling for the government of President Bashar al-Assad to step down broke out in March.

'Faultline'

In the Sunday Telegraph interview, Mr Assad said Western countries "are going to ratchet up the pressure, definitely".

"Syria is the hub now in this region. It is the faultline, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake," he said, .

"Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region.
Supporters hold pictures of President Assad during a rally in support of him 26 October 2011 Tens of thousands rallied in Damascus on Wednesday in support of President Assad.

"Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?"

President Assad admitted that "many mistakes" had been made by his security forces in the early part of the uprising, but the paper said he insisted that "only terrorists" were now being targeted.

He said he had responded differently to the Arab Spring than other, deposed Arab leaders.

"We didn't go down the road of stubborn government," he said. "Six days after (the protests began), I commenced reform.

Mr Assad described the uprising as a "struggle between Islamism and pan-Arabism.

"We've been fighting the Muslim brotherhood since the 1950s and we are still fighting with them," he said.

The latest statement from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Mr Assad must respond to demands for change with serious reform, "not repression and violence", and called for an immediate halt to military operations.

His calls echo those of members of the Arab League who on Friday sent an "urgent message" to the Syrian government, denouncing "the continued killings of civilians" taking part in protests.

The League's ministerial committee on the Syrian crisis also urged Damascus to "take the necessary measures" to protect civilians.
Soldiers killed

On Saturday, two of the country's main activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Co-ordinating Committees, said shells slammed into the Baba Amr district of Homs.

Reuters news agency reported one person was shot dead by a sniper and two were killed during machinegun fire between Mr Assad's forces and defectors in the city. Activists said that 21 civilians had been killed on Saturday, including 12 in Hama and three in Homs.

Raids and arrests also were reported around the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, the Associated Press reports.

In another incident near Homs, up to 20 Syrian soldiers were killed and 53 wounded in clashes with presumed army deserters, according to Agence France Presse.

In a separate incident, 10 security agents and a deserter were killed in a bus ambush near the Turkish border, AFP reported, quoting activists.

The Observatory said the bus was transporting security agents between the villages of Al-Habit and Kafrnabuda in Idlib province when it was ambushed "by armed men, probably deserters".

Syria's anti-government protests, inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, first erupted in mid-March after the arrest of a group of teenagers who spray-painted a revolutionary slogan on a wall. The protests soon spread, and human rights activists and opposition groups say 1,700 people have died in the turmoil, while thousands more have been injured.

Although the arrest of the teenagers in the southern city of Deraa first prompted people to take to the streets, unrest has since spread to other areas, including Hama, Homs, Latakia, Jisr al-Shughour and Baniyas. Demonstrators are demanding greater freedom, an end to corruption, and, increasingly, the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad.

President Assad's government has responded to the protests with overwhelming military force, sending tanks and troops into at least nine towns and cities. In Deraa and Homs - where protests have persisted � amateur video footage shows tanks firing on unarmed protesters, while snipers have been seen shooting at residents venturing outside their homes.

Some of the bloodiest events have taken place in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. In early June, officials claimed 120 security personnel were killed by armed gangs, however protesters said the dead were shot by troops for refusing to kill demonstrators. As the military moved to take control of the town, thousands fled to neighbouring Turkey, taking refuge in camps.

Although the major cities of Damascus and Aleppo have seen pockets of unrest and some protests, it has not been widespread - due partly to a heavy security presence. There have been rallies in the capital - one with an enormous Syrian flag - in support of President Assad, who still receives the backing of many in Syria's middle class, business elite and minority groups.

The Assad family has been in power for 40 years, with Bashar al-Assad inheriting office in 2000. The president has opened up the economy, but has continued to jail critics and control the media. He is from the minority Alawite sect - an offshoot of Shia Islam � but the country's 20 million people are mainly Sunni. The biggest protests have been in Sunni-majority areas.

Although the US and EU have condemned the violence and imposed sanctions, the UN Security Council has been unable to agree on a response. Some fear the country could descend into civil war if the government collapsed, while others believe chaos in Syria � with its strategic location and its web of regional alliances - could destabilise the entire Middle East.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15508630

They only produce 400k barrels of oil a day. Why do they think we would be interested in their little uprising?

Caue they are a sovereign country and all sovereign countrys are being attacked and put under UN and IMF fascistic extortion occupation.
Serbia, afghanisatan, Iraq, Libya.... Syria, Iran, North-Korea etc etc its just a list of countrys wich will be destroyed and merged within the new world order dictatorship under false pretences run by IMF and UN genocidal maniacs.

I don't they have the nuclear weapon, so...

Nothing changes around me cause i don't bother with war. Now if those people came to my state yeah i would shoot some dudes. I'm just sayin

Why not just drop a fucking bomb on the whole big mess? No one one would miss them.

His new PR movie just came out.

I'm sorry, but this video is ridiculous. Any time you hear someone say that Christians, Muslims, Jews, whites, blacks, etc. ? are all going to live together peaceably, and that new immigrants will be assimilated into mainstream culture, you know you are hearing a liar or a fool. Multiculturalism has failed in Europe. That is just one example of the many flaws in this highly emotional, borderline delusional speech.


History seldom changes and human nature never does. Hate is as much a human characteristic as love. Humans are hardwired for war and violence just as much as they are for compassion and compromise.

nobody ever mentions the millions that come out in support of the syrian president, only about the thousands that come out against him

why is it the world thinks the minority should decide how things are?

because they don't exist?

"Kidnap" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Bomb the shithole country flat. Drop Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into the middle of the resultant wasteland. Point and laugh.

Its a shame that foreign (and even domestic) policy is based on religion and crude oil. On one hand, you have a non-existant invisible man who lives in the sky, on the other hand, you have a a resource that will soon cease to exist. And people fight over this...

If you're religious, why are you even here? According to your own beliefs, you're going to hell just by viewing this site...

So your solution is to become a terrorist? To kill innocent people?

You don't need to be religious to be a nutcase *cough*garce*cough*.

Just want people to know that garce doesn't represent Canadians, we aren't barbaric and idiotic and we don't support the murder of children like garce does.

Why noone mentions that those supposed "milions" are usualy people employed by state or by Assad family owned companies?
If they werent shooting demonstrators and destroing lives of people attending demonstrations in every possible way, you would see real millions demonstrators.
On the other side, how many people would go to support Syrian president if those "socalled armed gangs and al-kaida guys" aka secret police guys were also shooting into their demonstrations?