Assad: No to surrender, no to submission

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed that the West will pay a heavy price for financing Al-Qaeda in Syria "in the heart of Europe and the United States".In an exclusive interview with Al-Ikhbariya state television, Assad said that the West is playing with fire and that the conflict could also spill over into Jordan. "The West has paid heavily for funding Al-Qaeda in its early stages. Today it is doing the same in Syria, Libya and other places, and will pay a heavy price in the heart of Europe and the United States," Assad said, AFP reported.Assad assured that from "the first day, what is happening in Syria is dictated from abroad". "We are facing a new war, a new method with fighters, some of whom are Arabs, not Syrians," the president said in the hour-long interview, adding that the "army is not fighting a war to liberate Syrian territory, but a war on terror". He insisted that "everyone who carries weapons and attacks civilians is a terrorist, be they Al-Qaeda or not."There is a bid to invade Syria with forces coming from the outside, of different nationalities, though they follow new, different tactics from those followed by those who came to colonize in the region, and from those used by the United States to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan." "There is an attempt at cultural colonization, meaning ideological invasion, in Syria, leading in one of two directions."Either Syria becomes subservient and submissive to the big powers and the west, or it becomes subservient to obscurantist, extremist forces. We need to hold on ever more strongly to the meaning of independence. "President Assad also warned that a defeat of his government would spell the demise of Syria, and vowed that he will not surrender. "There is no option but victory. Otherwise it will be the end of Syria, and I don't think that the Syrian people will accept such an option," he said."The truth is there is a war and I repeat: no to surrender, no to submission. "The Syrian President said that only people decide his own future. "The position (of president) has no value without popular backing. The people's decision is what matters in the question of whether the president stays or goes," he said, suggesting he might stand for a new term in polls slated for next year.Meanwhile, he said officials were laying the groundwork for a "national dialogue" and said "there are no red lines -- except for the independence of Syria -- on what can be discussed.""In all the countries of the world an opposition has grassroots support... We have parties inside Syria.... (unlike other opposition forces which does not represent the people)".Assad took to task neighboring Jordan, which says it is hosting around 500,000 Syria refugees, accusing it of allowing militants and arms free movement across its borders. "I cannot believe that hundreds (of rebels) are entering Syria with their weapons while Jordan is capable of arresting any single person with a light arm for going to resist in Palestine," Assad said."We would wish that our Jordanian neighbors realize that... the fire will not stop at our borders; all the world knows Jordan is just as exposed (to the crisis) as Syria. "Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against the Syrian police, border guards, statesmen, army and the civilians being reported across the country.Thousands of people have been killed since terrorist and armed groups turned protest rallies into armed clashes.The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed rebels for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.