Bashar al-Assad vows to 'live or die' in Syria
Source: The Guardian
Bashar al-Assad has vowed to "live or die" in Syria, warning against any foreign intervention in the crisis and defending his war-torn country as the "last stronghold of secularism and stability" in the region.
Speaking to Russia Today TV, the Syrian president made clear he had no intention of fleeing abroad just days after David Cameron suggested he could be offered "safe passage" if he stepped down.
"I am not a puppet. I was not made by the west to go to the west or to any other country," Assad said during the interview, to be broadcast on Friday. "I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria. I do not think the west is going [to intervene], but if they do so, nobody can tell what is next. I think the price of this invasion if it happened is going to be more than the whole world can afford."
Assad's unwavering message albeit via an interviewer from a country that backs his government contrasts with the disarray among members of opposition groups meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha, for what was supposed to be a drive for the greater unity urgently demanded by western countries.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/08/bashar-al-assad-live-die-syria