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| Assad says west hindering change in Syria |
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 The Syrian president has severely criticized the United States and its allies for their intervention in the country's internal affairs, saying they are not in pursuit of political reform in Syria. Bashar al-Assad said in a televised interview with Syrian state TV on Sunday that Washington and its European partners were hindering political change in Syria, while a political solution was the only way out of the country's crisis, according to Press TV. “In the beginning, the aim is not reforms for the West, they do not want reforms… They do not want us to make reforms,” he said. Assad added, “The reforms for the colonial Western powers, their main aim is… to give them what they want, to tell them I abandon everything, I abandon all my rights. This is reforms for them… and this is something they cannot dream about.” “The plan was to overthrow Syria during a period of weeks and what helped us is the will and vigilance of the Syrian people.” He stated that the Syrian constitution required revision and the promised reforms would be implemented within the next few months. The Syrian president said, “There is nothing called the security choice, the security alternative, there is only the political solution… Our choice was the political solution, however the political solution cannot be successful without maintaining and preserving security, and this is the duty of the state.” He vowed that municipal and parliamentary elections would be held in January and February 2012. Obama's request illegitimate Meanwhile, the chairman of the Russian Association for Friendship and Cooperation with the Arab Countries, Vyacheslav Matuzov, described President Bashar al-Assad's speech as "positive, comprehensive and constructive" since it also constitutes a response to the Western policy which interferes in Syria's internal affair, SANA reported. He pointed out that Syria is facing a fierce misleading media campaign with a political aim. Matuzov criticized the foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs, saying that interference in other states' internal affairs is legitimately prohibited according to the UN Charter and international law. Matuzov also criticized the interference of the U.S. president in Syria's affairs, asking, "Who gave President Barack Obama the right and legitimacy to ask President al-Assad to step down?" He also said Obama's request is "illegitimate and criminal." The director of the American and Arab Studies Center in Washington, Mounzer Suleiman, also underlined that President al-Assad was frank and stressed that Syria's sovereignty and its independent decisions can't be prejudiced. Unrest started to sweep through Syria in mid-March, claiming the lives of hundreds of people, including members of the security forces. Damascus says that the tension is being orchestrated from outside the country and that the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.   Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
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| Last Updated on 23 August 2011 15:15 |