05-31-2018, 10:39 AM
Assad, with Putin's support, today publicly warned the U.S. to get out of Syria or else he'll force U.S. forces out.
In an interview with pro-Putin news channel Russia Today (RT), Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad claimed he will recover areas held by U.S.-backed militia 'within a year'.
Responding to Trump's description of him as 'Animal Assad', the Syrian leader said: 'What you say is what you are'.
Trump called Assad an animal after a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near Damascus in April.
'We were close to have direct conflict between the Russian forces and the American forces,' Assad said in English.
'Fortunately, it has been avoided, not by the wisdom of the American leadership, but by the wisdom of the Russian leadership.'
Assad said work had begun on negotiations with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where U.S. forces are stationed.
However, if talks fail to bring the area back under Damascus' authority, he warned that he would attack the region by force.
'This is the first option. If not, we're going to resort to... liberating those areas by force,' he said, adding 'the Americans should leave, somehow they're going to leave'.
'They came to Iraq with no legal basis, and look what happened to them. They have to learn the lesson. Iraq is no exception, and Syria is no exception. People will not accept foreigners in this region anymore,' he said.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...areas.html
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/middleeas...index.html
In an interview with pro-Putin news channel Russia Today (RT), Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad claimed he will recover areas held by U.S.-backed militia 'within a year'.
Responding to Trump's description of him as 'Animal Assad', the Syrian leader said: 'What you say is what you are'.
Trump called Assad an animal after a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near Damascus in April.
'We were close to have direct conflict between the Russian forces and the American forces,' Assad said in English.
'Fortunately, it has been avoided, not by the wisdom of the American leadership, but by the wisdom of the Russian leadership.'
Assad said work had begun on negotiations with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where U.S. forces are stationed.
However, if talks fail to bring the area back under Damascus' authority, he warned that he would attack the region by force.
'This is the first option. If not, we're going to resort to... liberating those areas by force,' he said, adding 'the Americans should leave, somehow they're going to leave'.
'They came to Iraq with no legal basis, and look what happened to them. They have to learn the lesson. Iraq is no exception, and Syria is no exception. People will not accept foreigners in this region anymore,' he said.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...areas.html
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/middleeas...index.html