Excerpts from a Daily Mail interview with President Bashar

President Bashar al-Assad has launched a furious attack on Britain, America and their allies, accusing them of deliberately prolonging the civil war in Syria.

Dismissing Theresa May as a colonialist and a liar, the Syrian leader claims Britain even helped stage April’s notorious chemical attack in the suburb of Douma and that its actions are giving support to the Islamic State terror group.

Today, in a rare and defiant interview, a man widely regarded as a pariah for his repressive regime – and widespread accusations that he has used chemical weapons – refuses to accept an iota of blame.

Instead, he places responsibility for the duration of the seven-year conflict squarely at the feet of Britain and America. Western powers, he says, should get out of Syria and allow the bloodshed to end.

Assad is in an outspoken mood – and believes he has good reason to be confident. Today, for the first time in six years, his forces are in full control of the Syrian capital while, thanks to the support of Russian and Iranian allies, rebel fighters and IS are firmly in retreat.

Watch the interview here.

‘I have always said that in less than a year we can solve this conflict, it’s not complicated,’ he tells me. ‘What has made it complicated is the external interference. The more we advance, the more support terrorists have from the West.

‘So, we think the more advances we make politically and militarily, the more that the West, especially the US, UK, and France, will try to prolong it and make the solution farther from the Syrians.’

‘The story you’re talking about [is] that this is a bad president; he’s killing his own people, and the world is against him,’ he says. ‘But he’s been in his position for seven years while he’s fighting everyone in this world. Can you convince your readers of this? It’s not logical. It’s not realistic. This president is in his position because he has the support of his own people.

‘We are fighting the terrorists and those terrorists are supported by the British Government, the French government, the American and their puppets.’

‘We consider the White Helmets to be a PR stunt by the UK. So yes, definitely, it was staged by these three countries together and the UK is involved.’

‘It was a lie. After we liberated that area our information confirmed the attack did not take place,’ he adds. ‘The British Government should prove with evidence that the attack happened, and then they should prove who is responsible. This did not happen.’

‘Britain and the US attacked Iraq illegally in 2003,’ he insists. ‘[They] killed millions, caused mass destruction, let alone the number of widows and amputees.’

‘This is colonial policy, that’s how we see it, and this is not new. They have never changed this policy… that existed in the beginning of the 20th century,’ he says.

‘For the US, the UK and France [their presence in Syria] is illegal. It is an invasion, they are breaching the sovereignty of Syria. They don’t accept anyone who has a different point of view.

‘The past five years have proved that I was right. Look at the terrorism spreading all over the world because the chaos that is supported by the West in Syria.

‘Syria is very independent in its political positions. We work for our national interests, we’re not a puppet state.’

‘The West supported the war from the very beginning and it supported the terrorists. The West is responsible first of all.’

Read complete Daily Mail article

*

Featured image is from Daily Mail Online.