Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said that his country was engaged in a regional and international battle, assuring that “as the situation is improving, settling it requires more time.”

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said that his country was engaged in a regional and international battle, assuring that “as the situation is improving, settling it requires more time.”

“We are engaged in a regional and international battle that requires time for settling… It is a battle of wills, and we are advancing in it. The situation is practically better, but it was not settled yet,” Assad told Ad-Dounia satellite channel, confirming that “the armed forces are performing heroic acts… despite the many mistakes done, there is a strong connection between this country’s (Syria) policies and it's people’s ideology.

In an interview that was broadcast Wednesday night on the Syrian channel, Assad indicated that there is constant arming of militants in Homs specifically, adding that “we cannot separate the situation in Homs from that in other provinces.”

“When the army wants to use its complete power, it could destroy all the regions,” he further stressed.

On another hand, the Syrian president considered that “a resistance is formed when the state abandons its responsibilities… this was the case in Lebanon during the civil war, and the case in Palestine where there was no state at all… but this is not the case in Syria, where there is a state.”

“Syria does not need a green light neither from its friends nor from its enemies and opponents to defend its sovereign and national causes,” Assad added.

In parallel, as Assad pointed out that he was targeted for his support to the resistance and his relation with Iran, he revealed that “we were asked to turn away from Iran, but our response was that as long as Iran is standing by us and by the Arabs’ rights, how could we turn our back to it?”

On the local level, the Syrian president stressed that public unity has frustrated all the enemies’ plots, adding that “as long as the organizations are not developing, the role of any official, including that of the president will stay minor.”

Referring to the Syrian media, Assad emphasized that “the Syrian media was able to strike real media empires that are not just supported financially but also politically, yet it can develop and become more successful.”

Regarding the elements that defected from the Syrian regime and escaped from the country, the Syrian president stated that “what actually happened was an escape outside the country and not a defection. That who runs away is a corrupt person who is either bribed or a coward, or he could be someone who desired a certain position and failed to attain it. This is a cleaning operation to the country and to the nation in particular.”

“Any person who leaves his country is finished in case he had political ambitions, because the Syrian people do not respect anyone who runs away,” he added.

Furthermore, Assad said that “we are a smart people. We are not an importing country, we are rather a productive country, and we have the ability to stay and develop. We know the best method to develop our economy, and we have the power to live with the sanctions.”

In conclusion, as he praised the Syrian Armed Forces’ heroic acts and sacrifices, he assured that Syria’s enemy could be from inside Syria if he chose to implement the enemy’s schemes, adding that the solution to the crisis is in the hands of the Syrian people.

The Syrian president finally stated that he made this interview from the Presidential Palace in Damascus, stressing that “we don’t respond to rumors because such rumors (about Assad and his family leaving the country) prove their lies”.