Syria leader denies ordering deadly crackdown

08/12/2011| IslamWeb

Syria's president has denied that he ordered the deadly crackdown on an almost nine-month-old uprising, saying that he is not in charge of the country's security forces blamed for killing more than 4,000 people.

In a rare interview with the US broadcaster ABC airing on Wednesday, Bashar al-Assad maintained that he did not give a command "to kill or be brutal". 

"They're not my forces," Assad responded when asked if Syrian troops had cracked down too hard on protesters. 

"They are military forces (who) belong to the government. I don't own them. I'm president. I don't own the country. No government in the world kills its people, unless it is led by a crazy person." 

However, in his role as president, Assad is officially the commander of Syria's armed forces, who have reportedly used tanks, warships, plain-clothed militias, and snipers to besiege dissidents in residential areas across the country. 

As a result of the brutality, up to 25,000 members of Syria's security forces have defected to the opposition and have taken up arms to protect civilians from the crackdown. 

Downplaying crackdown

Tens of thousands of protesters and dissenters have been imprisoned by Syrian authorities since the uprising began in March, according to rights groups. 

But Assad insisted he still had the support of the Syrian people and downplayed the violence against civilians by blaming it on  "mistakes committed by some officials".

Assad's government blames "foreign plotters" for being behind the nationwide unrest. 

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut in neighboring Lebanon, said: "He (Assad) insists he is confronting not peaceful protesters, but foreign plotters who want to destroy Syria and undermine it." 

"It is not surprising that he is saying that, but that he's saying it after almost nine months of continued, unstoppable protests," she said. 

"Despite the brutal crackdown that the government has used, the wave of protests has not stopped." 

'Escaping responsibility' 

The United Nations has recently released a report blaming the Syrian government for ordering crimes against humanity in its bid to crush the protest movement. 

When asked about the allegations of rampant violence and torture of protesters, including children, by Syrian authorities, Assad replied: "Who said the United Nations is a credible institution?" 

"I did my best to protect the people so you cannot feel guilty when you do your best. You feel sorry for the life that has been lost but you don't feel guilty when you don't kill people," he said.

Responding to the interview, Mark Toner, US state department spokesman, said Assad was trying to escape responsibility for the crackdown. 

"I find it ludicrous that he is attempting to hide behind some sort of shell game but also some sort of claim that he doesn't exercise authority in his own country," Toner said. 

Assad has responded to protests with unprecedented promises of democratic reform and freedoms in Syria, but many activists doubt that they will bring real change as the government continues its crackdown. 

"The government did take certain measures for reform. They have lifted emergency law and are going to have local elections in the coming days," our correspondent said from Beirut. 

"But for protesters on the ground, it is not enough. They want real change, they want democracy, the rule of law, they want more freedoms, no more corruption and don't want Mr Assad to rule over them any more."

PHOTO CAPTION

Demonstrators protesting against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad gather in Kafranbel near Adlb December 4, 2011.

Aljazeera