Assad says mercenaries are behind Syria unrest

BEIRUT — In his first interview since December, Syrian President Bashar Assad insisted Tuesday his regime is fighting back against foreign mercenaries who want to overthrow him, not innocent Syrians aspiring for democracy in a yearlong uprising.

The interview with Russian TV showed Mr. Assad is still standing his ground, despite widespread international condemnation over his deadly crackdown on dissent.

“There are foreign mercenaries, some of them still alive,” Mr. Assad said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on Russian state news channel Rossiya 24. “They are being detained and we are preparing to show them to the world.”

Mr. Assad also cautioned against meddling in Syria, warning neighboring nations that have served as transit points for contraband weapons being smuggled into the country that “if you sow chaos in Syria, you may be infected by it yourself.”

He did not elaborate, but rebels and anti-regime activists say Syrian forces have mined many of the smuggling routes where weapons flow into Syria - mainly from neighboring Turkey and Lebanon.

Mr. Assad still has a firm grip on power in Syria some 14 months into a revolt that has torn at the country’s fabric and threatened to undermine stability in the Middle East.

The U.N. estimated in March that the violence has killed more than 9,000 people, and hundreds more have been killed since then as a revolt that began with mostly peaceful calls for reform transforms into an armed insurgency.

A group known as the Free Syrian Army is determined to bring down the regime by force of arms, targeting military checkpoints and other government sites.

A U.N. observer team with more than 200 members has done little to quell the bloodshed, and some even have been caught up in the violence themselves.

Six observers had to be evacuated from a northern town Wednesday, a day after a roadside bomb hit their convoy and left them stranded overnight with rebel forces.

None of the observers was wounded, and it was not clear who was behind the attack.

The U.N. said the team was treated well during its stay with rebels.

Mr. Assad, 46, denies that there is a popular will behind the uprising, saying foreign extremists and terrorists are driving the revolt.

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