Bashar Assad: Show Me The Evidence
A defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday that the international community has not produced evidence to substantiate claims that his regime used chemical weapons in a deadly attack last month.
"Those who make accusations must show evidence. We have challenged the United States and France to come up with a single piece of proof. (Presidents) Obama and Hollande have been incapable of doing so," Assad told the French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview in Damascus.
Assad has made few public appearances and given few interviews since an uprising began more than two years ago. But with the U.S. and France favoring military action, the Syrian leader said such strikes could unleash much greater violence across the region.
"The Middle East is barrel of powder and today the flames are creeping closer. It is not just a question of the Syrian response but what else might happen after the first (Western) air strike," Assad said. "Everyone will lose control of the situation when the powder barrel explodes."
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