Assad: ‘I Have to Live in Syria and Die in Syria’
Assad: ‘I Have to Live in Syria and Die in Syria’
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad issued a stark warning Thursday to Western countries that may be thinking of intervening militarily in the bloody conflict that has devastated the country for nearly 20 months.
“I think the price of this invasion, if it happened, is going too big, more than the whole world can afford,” Assad said in an interview with the Russia Today news channel. “We are the last stronghold of secularism and stability in the region and coexistence. . . . It will have a domino effect that will affect the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and you know the implication on the rest of the world.”
He also added, “I don’t think the West is going in that regard, but if they do so, nobody can tell what’s next.”
A brief video clip and transcript of the interview were posted on the Russia Today Web site Thursday, and the channel will air the full interview Friday.