Assad accuses US of fuelling uprising

Syria’s president has accused the United States of fuelling a violent uprising against his government.

German public broadcaster ARD quoted Bashar Assad as saying that America is partnering with those “terrorists... with weapons, money or public and political support at the United Nations”.

Assad was further quoted as saying that he won’t step down “in the face of national challenges”.

ARD released Assad’s comments translated into German yesterday ahead of the full interview’s broadcast. It said the interview — only the third Assad has given to a western news organisation since Syria’s uprising broke out in Mar 2011 — was conducted on Thursday in Damascus and recorded by Syria’s state television.

The comments came as UN special envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus for talks with Assad yesterday.

The visit came a day after Annan acknowledged in an interview that the international community’s efforts to find a political solution to the escalating violence in Syria have failed.

Annan is the architect of the most prominent international plan to end the 16- month crisis in Syria which activists say has left well over 14,000 people dead.

Annan’s six-point plan was to begin with a ceasefire in mid-April between government forces and rebels seeking to topple Assad, but the truce never took hold.

A statement issued yesterday by UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi did not give details of Annan’s schedule in Damascus.

Meanwhile, Syria’s military began large-scale exercises simulating defence against outside “aggression”, the state-run news agency said yesterday, an apparent warning to other countries not to intervene.

The exercise began on Saturday with naval forces in a scenario where they repelled an attack from the sea, and will include air and ground forces over the next few days, SANA said.

State TV broadcast footage of missiles being fired from launch vehicles and warships.

Syrian defence minister Dawood Rajiha praised the “exceptional performance” of the naval forces which showed “a high level of combat training and ability to defend Syria’s shores against any possible aggression”.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday that time is running out on Syrian peace hopes and warned that the Syrian state could collapse.

Speaking in Japan, Clinton said Annan’s acknowledgment that his peace plan is failing “should be a wake-up call for everyone”.