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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was not concerned about a draft resolution to place Syrian chemical weapons under international control, adding that China and Russia would "ensure any excuse for military action against Syria will not stand." In an interview with China's state television CCTV in Damascus, Assad said: “We know that these terrorists are obeying the orders of other countries and these countries do drive these terrorists to commit acts that could get the Syrian government blamed for hindering this agreement,” he explained. An article posted on the CCTV website on Monday quoted Assad as saying, "I am not concerned. Since its independence, Syria has been committed to all the treaties it has signed. We will honor everything that we have agreed to do. "And more importantly, I want to say, by submitting the draft to the U.N. Security Council, or by urging the U.S. and Russia to agree on a deal, the U.S., France, and Britain are just trying to make themselves winners in a war against a Syria which is their imaginary enemy." The Syrian president warned that armed opposition in Syria may be ordered by its foreign sponsors to stage a false flag operation against foreign inspectors when they arrive in the country to monitor destruction of the country’s chemical weapons stockpile. "We know that these terrorists are obeying the orders of other countries and these countries do drive these terrorists to commit acts that could get the Syrian government blamed for hindering this agreement." Asked whether Syria had lots of chemical weapons, Assad said: "Syria has been manufacturing chemical weapons for decades so it's normal for there to be large quantities in the country."We are a nation at war, we've got territories that have been occupied for more than 40 years, but in any case, the Syrian army is trained to fight using conventional weapons." Assad said the weapons are safe from being captured by any party. He said the chemical weapons were stored "under special conditions to prevent any terrorist for other destructive forces from tampering with them, that is, destructive forces that could come from other countries." "So there is nothing to worry about. The chemical weapons in Syria are in a safe place that is secure and under the control of the Syrian army." | ||||
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