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Summary Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed defiantly to live and die in Syria.
A defiant President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday rejected calls that he seek a safe exit, vowing he will live in Syria and die in Syria and warning that the world cannot afford the cost of a foreign intervention.I am not a puppet. I was not made by the West to go to the West or to any other country, Assad said in English in an interview with Russian state-backed Russia Today (RT) television.I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria, he said, according to transcripts posted on RTs website.On Tuesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron floated the idea of granting Assad safe passage from the country, saying it could be arranged, although he wanted him to face international justice.Assad, who has made only rare public statements in recent months, also warned against a foreign intervention in Syrias escalating conflict, saying such a move would have global consequences and shake regional stability.We are the last stronghold of secularism and stability in the region... it will have a domino effect that will affect the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the transcript said.In a separate video extract of the interview, Assad added: The price of this invasion, if it happens, is going to be big, more than the whole world can afford.Many in Syrias opposition, including rebels battling pro-regime forces, have urged world powers to intervene to stop the escalating bloodshed.Fighting continued around the country on Thursday, as the Red Cross said it was struggling to cope with Syrias worsening humanitarian crisis.Heavy clashes for control of the mainly Kurdish northeastern town of Ras al-Ain on the Turkish border killed 16 soldiers and 10 rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Syrian state television reported that troops killed dozens of terrorists who tried to attack Ras al-Ain and the rebels then fled back into Turkey.Turkish media reported five Turks wounded by ricochets from across the border.Fresh violence also broke out in the southern Damascus neighbourhood of Qadam and in Mazzeh in the west of the capital, said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground.It said at least 86 people were killed on Thursday, including 38 soldiers.The Observatory says more than 37,000 people have died since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011, first as a protest movement and then an armed rebellion after the regime cracked down on demonstrations.
