Assad defends status quo in Syria

Syrian President Bashar Assad said the political violence in his nation has declined since he limited his army to "only fighting terrorists." "If you sent in your army to the streets, the same thing would happen," Assad said of the bloody military crackdown against demonstrators in the summer. "Now, we are only fighting terrorists. That's why the fighting is becoming much less." In his first interview with Western media since this year's uprising began, Bashar told Britain's The Sunday Telegraph that effective strategy was in place that put the Syrian police out front. "We have very few police, only the army, who are trained to take on al-Qaida," he said. The Telegraph said the violence in Syria was far from over. Opposition groups claimed 40 civilians were killed by government artillery this weekend in Homs while another 17 soldiers reportedly died in a clash with a band of army deserters in the city. But Assad defended the seemingly slow pace of government reforms and warned outside governments that Syria's collapse could Balkanize the strategically important region and allow further gains by radical Islamists. "Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?" he asked. "Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region," Assad warned. "If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region."