Assad: Moderate opposition is a myth

OSLO, October 6. /TASS/. Western media are biased in covering the conflict in Syria hushing up victims among the civilian population in the areas that are not under control of the Syrian government, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Danish TV 2.

"In every war there are victims, there are innocent victims. And that’s why every war is bad war," he said. But looking at pictures in western media, one can see that they publish only "few pictures of children that suit their political agenda," he said.

The president said in two days that TV2 correspondent Rasmus Tantholdt has been in Syria, dozens of people, including children, women and elderly have died in shelling from the eastern part of the city.

"And the Western corporations didn’t talk about them," he said. There was "not a single statement" regarding that, said Assad accusing the West of propaganda, as well as "demonization of the government of Syria".

He also reminded the audience that the republic’s authorities had opened the door to militants in the eastern part of Aleppo to leave safely. 

Moderate opposition is ‘myth'

The president said moderate opposition in Syria is a myth, they cannot be separated.

Moderate opposition in Syria is a myth, "you cannot separate something that doesn’t exist from something that exists," the president said.

All of them have the same grassroots, he said. "The same grassroot that used to be called Free Syrian Army four years ago, five years ago, then it became Al Nusra, then it became ISIS," moving from one group to another group, the Syrian leader said.

West helped IS

According to Assad, forces of the international coalition led by the United States have helped the Islamic State terrorist organization when they delivered a strike on Syrian government forces in the city of Deir-ez-Zor.

"In reality they [Western forces] helped ISIS [former name of Islamic State]… because they killed tens of Syrian soldiers who were defending the city of Deir-ez-Zor from being under the control of ISIS, and now ISIS took the hills that overlooked the city so they could be able someday to take control of Deir-ez-Zor because of that attack," Assad said.

As a result of an airstrike of the international coalition on units of the Syrian government forces in the city of Deir-ez-Zor on September 17, more than 60 servicemen were killed and about 100 others wounded.

Later, according to a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the United States admitted that the incident in Deir-ez-Zor was the result of a mistake, and apologized to Syrians via Russia. Still, the incident put in question the implementation of the Russian-U.S. agreements on settlement in Syria. On September 19, the Syrian Armed Forces announced withdrawal from the truce regime.

Destroying hospitals is war crime

The president added that destroying hospitals, or schools or any such facility is a war crime from the point of view of international law.

When asked whether whoever attack hospitals are guilty of war crimes, he said "By international law, of course". Hospitals have immunity like any other facilities in areas inhabited by civilians, the president said.

He said destroying hospitals and schools was not the policy of the government forces "first of all morally" and secondly because "if we do, we are offering the militants the incubator, the social incubator they have been looking for". "It is against our interests," the president said.

He said he would not have been in power if the Damascus leadership really committed the atrocities the West accused it of. "I am not superman. If I don’t have support I wouldn’t be here," he said. "And because we defend the Syrian people, we have the support as president or as a government," the Syrian leader said.