Syria's Assad rejects Arab League power transfer proposal

In a statement released by the Syrian Foreign Ministry Monday, Damascus angrily rejected the call by the Arab League, issued at the Arab League foreign ministers conference in Doha Sunday, for President Bashar Assad to quit for the sake of his country.

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi considered the decisions of the Arab League foreign ministers as a “flagrant interference in Syria’s internal affairs.”

"If the countries of the Arab League sincerely wanted to stop the bloodshed, they would stop supplying arms to the outlaws, saboteurs, and terrorist groups," said the spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

On Sunday, after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arab League in Doha they called on the Syrian president to handover powers in exchange for a "safe" exit for himself and his family.

"Assad’s departure would help to secure an end to the continuing violence in Syria," Makdissi said.

Meanwhile, Makdissi dismissed allegations that Syrian regime intends to use chemical or biological weapons to end people's revolution against the Assad regime, stressing that Syrian army will never use weapons of mass destruction against its own people and will only use them in case of external aggression against Syria.

"Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile is under airtight guard and will not be used unless the country becomes a victim of foreign aggression," he said.

In response to Makdissi's remarks,the White House spokesman Tommy Vietor warned Syria Monday not to even consider using chemical weapons.

On Sunday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney warned Damascus about its arsenal of chemical weapons, saying that members of the Assad regime should be held accountable if they do not ensure its safety.

"We believe that Syria's chemical weapons remain under Syrian government control," Carney said. "But given the escalation in violence, and the regime's increasing attacks on its own people, we remain very concerned about these weapons."

In the meantime, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the possibility that Syria could use chemical weapons was very worrying and the subject of intense scrutiny by the West.

On the other hand, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that Israel is less concerned with what replaces the regime in Syria and more with what happens to Syria's chemical stockpiles.

"Israel will not allow Syrian chemical and other non-conventional weapons to fall into the hands of Hezbollah movement or other organizations as al-Qaida," Netanyahu stressed.

Jihad Makdissi knows very well that he is lying for the sake of the Syrian regime. Several days ago, I posted on allvoices a report concerning the possibility of using chemical weapons at city of Deir-Ezzo. The Syrian regime respects neither human rights nor democracy, and this is not a new thing to be known. From this point, there is a big possibility of using chemical weapons, whereas the Syrian regime has no other solution except making a big massacre with the support of China and Russia so as to escape from the people's revolution.

Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/23/227945.html