“We don’t kill our people… no government in the world kills its people, unless it’s led by a crazy person”

Responding to many allegations that he may have ordered the killing of protesters, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said “only a crazy person would do so”.

Speaking to ABC News’ Barbara Walters in an exclusive interview, the Syrian President said that most of the people who died in the unrest were his supporters and troops questioning the credibility of UN death toll of more than 4,000 killed in the so-called bloody crackdown. “Who said that the United Nations is a credible institution?”

“We don't kill our people… no government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person,” Assad said brushing aside international sanction affirming that Syria had launched democratic reforms.

In reaction to western and Arab League pressure in addition to the UN-Turkish sanction, Assad told ABC News such threats did not worry him, saying: “We've been under sanctions for the last 30, 35 years. It's not something new.”

Assad blamed the violence on criminals, religious extremists and terrorists sympathetic to al Qaeda he says are mixed in with peaceful demonstrators. He added that “most of the people that have been killed are supporters of the government, not the vice versa.” The dead have included 1,100 soldiers and police, Assad said.

Syria’s President conceded that some members of his armed forces went too far, but assured they were punished for their actions. “Every 'brute reaction' was by an individual, not by an institution, that's what you have to know,” he said. “There is a difference between having a policy to crackdown and between having some mistakes committed by some officials. There is a big difference,” said Assad. At another point he said, “There was no command to kill or be brutal.”