Terrorism cannot be solved through politics, it should rather be hit with an iron fist, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a rare speech on Syrian state television

Terrorism cannot be solved through politics, it should rather be hit with an iron fist, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a rare speech on Syrian state television.

"No solution can be reached with terror except by striking it with an iron fist," said Assad. "I don't think that any sane human being would think that terrorism can be dealt with via politics," he added.

"There may be a role for politics in dealing with terrorism pre-emptively," said Assad, adding that as soon as "terrorism" has arisen, it can only be struck out.

Assad also said Syria's economic woes "are linked to the security situation, and they can only be solved by striking terror".

He meanwhile stressed the need for the army to fight on against the rebellion. "It is true that there is a battle being fought in the media and on (the Internet), but the crisis will only be solved on the battlefield," said Assad in his 45-minute address.

He also said that any efforts towards a political solution should be combined with continued military operations. "There cannot be any political efforts or political progress if terror is striking everywhere. Therefore terror must be struck in order to get the political process moving on the right track," Assad said.

Assad also lashed out against the main opposition National Coalition, describing it as a "failure". "This opposition is not reliable ... and it has no role in solving the crisis," the president said.

He accused the Coalition of "being on the payroll of more than one Gulf country", and of "blaming the (Syrian) state for terrorism rather than blaming the armed men."