Al-Assad Warns Against International Intervention in Syria
Bashar al-Assad
As another former dictator’s reign is over, in Libya, where the rebels have entered the capital city Tripoli and Qaddafi is expected to be found and arrested or to have fled the country, the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad warned the Western countries against a foreign invasion in his country. In a television appearance on Sunday, Assad threatened that any intervention in his country would have “greater consequences” than the invaders expected.
These threats come after the United States and the European Union called for him to step down last week, calls he deemed not even worthy of response, because, in his words, he had been appointed by the Syrian people, probably the same people he sent tanks and machine guns against.
Assad also spoke of reforms, saying that it is possible that parliamentary elections be held in February 2012, and local elections even sooner.
Answering about the unrest in his country, Assad reassured that the Syrian state had means to contain such outbursts, and said that the state was capable to deal with them.
At the end of the last week, Bashar al-Assad announced that his forces had ended the crackdown on people, and that order had been re-established. His announcement came at the same time the American president Barack Obama demanded Assad to step down.
However, there are reports that say that his troops continued shooting civilians even after the announcement that the ground operations were over.
Human rights reports say that more than 2,000 people have been killed since the crackdown began, which prompted Arab nations to demand Syria to grant an international probe within its borders to assess these estimates.
Kuwait is the country that will make this demand on behalf of the Arab nations, on Monday, during the U.N. Rights Council’s session. Such an investigation could help the United Nations Security Council demand an international arrest warrant in the name of Bashar al-Assad.
The panel of inquiry that is expected to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity will present their report in November, by which time the U.N. Security Council will be able to demand the warrant, if necessary. The international criminal court is desired by the humanitarian organizations in Syria. Russia, China and Cuba demanded that the mentioning of crimes against humanity be avoided by the draft resolution the Arab nations presented.
Syrian Revolution
The regime in Damascus has already allowed a UN humanitarian team to assess the damage and find a way to support the people in need.
Leaders of the opposition gathered in Turkey to create a national transitional council and prepare a plan that would lead to Assad’s ouster.
