al-Jazeera: Al-Assad: Assassination of Palestinian leaders in Syria, will be an aggression, Iraqi resistance is legitimate
Syria-Regional, Politics, 4/29/2004

In an interview with the Qatari al-Jazeera TV of which parts were screened yesterday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that the armed operations against the occupation forces in Iraq is a legitimate resistance because it represents the majority of the Iraqis, warning Israel from assassinating Palestinian groups leaders in Damascus because Syria will deal with it as an aggression on it.

In the interview which will be broadcast in full on Saturday in "an open dialogue" program, President al-Assad indicated pressures from Washington practiced by the American embassies at Arab governments concerning the question of presumed reforms debated at the agenda of the forthcoming Arab summit.

Replying to a question on his country's position on terrorism, al-Assad said in the interview which was recorded before the terrorist attack in al-Mezze quarters in Damascus that Western and Arab countries are responsible for the spread of terrorism because they" hosted the terrorist groups and are now paying for it the price." He added that Syria recommended these governments that these forces will react against them and will pay the price later.

On Iraq, al-Assad said that the armed operations against the American occupation forces are legitimate resistance because it represents the majority of the Iraqi people. He explained "what had happened at the people's level legitimizes resistance and confirms that great deal of it is resistance." Al-Assad made a distinction between attacks which target civilians and those targeting the military men, considering that the attacks against the civilians are not resistance.

Replying to a question on the Israeli threats to assassinate the leaders of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Syria, the Syrian president stressed that this will be an aggression on Damascus and we will deal with it on this ground.

As for the reform issue debated to the Arab summit, al-Assad said that all Arab leaders are exposed to strong pressures on this matter from the US, noting that the American embassies are carrying an active role in this regard. He said that this is no longer a secret because all people are talking about it.

Previous Stories:
  Al-Shara's Political Review on Regional developments   (4/27/2004)
  Beirut's Arab National Conference voices solidarity with Syria   (4/24/2004)
  Al-Assad meets with Arab journalists federation delegation   (4/23/2004)

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