“Victory is near” and a campaign by foreign media against Syria has “failed,” he said today at Damascus University in his fourth national address since protests began in March. The unrest, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives, according to the United Nations, will end when weapons smuggling is stopped and Syria “defeats the conspiracy,” he said.
Assad said Syria embarked on reform after he came to power in 2000 following his father’s death. A referendum on the new constitution may be held by March and parliamentary elections by May, he said, adding that the countries pressuring Syria don’t care about reform and are using it as an excuse to intervene. He criticized some Arab states, without naming them, for talking to Syria about democracy when they lack it.
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