Al-Assad interview with Spanish Elpais

In an interview published by Spanish daily ELPAIS on Wednesday, President Bashar al-Assad indicated that the United States has become a source of instability for the first time in the Middle East.

In the interview that was given last Monday, prior to the imposition of sanctions against Damascus, President al-Assad said "As a small country, we were considering the United States as a country that encourages stability in spite of the differences."

On the repercussions of the occupation of Iraq on the region, the president said:" The United States has become a source of instability for the first time." The president added:"Terrorism should be directly linked with Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine, indicating that the war in Afghanistan and then in Iraq "has aroused hatred" that may feed "any terrorism."

On combating terrorism, the president stressed " The reasons should be tackled: Iraq and Palestine."

Commenting on the outcome of the occupation of Iraq, President al-Assad said "It is the chaos in Iraq. There are weapons being smuggled into Syria, and also the growing extremism and a feeling of hatred against the United States that have never existed before." When asked about the dismantling of the chemical weapons on the eve of the declaration of the US sanctions, the president replied by saying that his country "has been exposed to pressures in that direction" and stressed that the issue should include " the dismantling of the nuclear weapons in Israel" which is being exposed to "pressures in the opposite direction" by the United States.

The president concluded by saying "The result we have reached is that the United States is not honest," adding that Damascus sees that "the mere presence of this (Israeli) government, constitutes a direct threat."

Regarding economic and political reforms in Syria, the president confirmed that the first ( the economic reform) is progressing not even slowly but is retreating " but" our daily problems put these reforms in the second place because priority now is given to security." Finally the president said "if any Syrian citizen is asked what he wishes, his answer will be food stuff and not parties."