Al-Assad stresses Syrian principled stances

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday that he will not be the President who bows his head or his people to any pressures. "The era of mandates which had prevailed at the start of last century is over... the region is now in front of two alternatives... resistance or chaos," President Assad said in his address to people.

He added that "if we stood firm from the beginning, we would have gained victory at the end."