Syrian president says country will defend itself
DAMASCUS, Syria — President Bashar Assad vowed Thursday that “Syria will defend itself” against Western military strikes over a possible chemical weapons attack, and the United Nations said inspectors will leave within 48 hours carrying information that could be crucial to what happens next.
At the United Nations, a meeting of the permanent members of the Security Council on the Syrian crisis ended after less than an hour after being convened by Russia, an ally of the Assad regime.
As Western leaders made their case at home for intervening in Syria’s 3-year-old civil war, Assad remained defiant.
“Threats to launch a direct aggression against Syria will make it more adherent to its well-established principles and sovereign decisions stemming from the will of its people, and Syria will defend itself against any aggression,” he said in comments reported by the Syrian state news agency.
It’s not clear whether Assad would retaliate against any attacks or try to ride them out in hopes of minimizing the threat to his continued rule. The United States has said regime change it not the objective of any military action it may carry out.
The U.N. experts have been carrying out on-site investigations this week to determine whether chemical weapons were used in the attack that the group Doctors Without Borders alleges killed 355 people. Inspectors visited the eastern suburb of Zamalka, where they interviewed survivors and collected samples.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Western powers to hold off on any military action until the experts can present their findings to U.N. member states and the Security Council. Speaking in Vienna, Ban said the U.N. team is to leave Syria on Saturday morning and will report to him.