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Assad warns US over strike

Moscow says Syria strikes would cause 'outburst of terror'; Russia, Syria push for UN chemical experts1 return

Agencies
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Washington yesterday to brace for retaliation if US forces attacked his war-torn country, as he denied using chemical weapons against his people, reported AFP.
"You're going to pay the price if you're not wise. There are going to be repercussions," Assad told CBS television's "This Morning."
"It's an area where everything is on the brink of explosion. You have to expect everything."
He also warned of the risks of possible chemical attacks by rebels or "terrorists" if there was outside intervention in Syria.
Assad spoke in what CBS called his first interview since President Barack Obama asked Congress for approval to use military force to punish Assad for his regime's alleged use of chemical weapons in a deadly attack last month.
"You should expect everything... The government's not the only player in this region. You have different parties, different factions, different ideol-
ogies. You have everything in this decision now," Assad said.
Assad denied his forces carried out a deadly chemical weapons attack on August 21 on the outskirts of Damascus, as alleged by the United States and some of its allies.
"How can you talk about what happened if you don't have evidence?" he said in the interview, in which he spoke English.
"We're not like the American administration, we're not like the
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social media administration or government. We’re the government that deals with evidence."
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday warned military strikes on Syria risked causing an "outburst of terrorism" in the region at a time when the Damascus regime is still ready for talks to end the conflict.
"All the more, politicians share our estimation that a military solution will lead to an outburst of terrorism both in Syria and in neighbouring countries," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem.
Lavrov also warned strikes would create even more refugees and added Russia "cannot not be worried by the fate of Russians living in Syria whose health and life might
be put at risk."
"The possibility for a political solution remains," Lavrov said, emphasising that his Syrian counterpart has assured him at the talks in Moscow that Damascus was still "ready for peace talks".
In the interview broadcast Monday Assad said that his forces had themselves in fact been attacked by rebels using chemical arms.
"But in the area where they say the government used chemical weapons, we only have video and we only have pictures and allegations. We're not there. Our forces, our police, our institutions don't think this," Assad said.
Asked whether the repercussions he predicted could include the use of more chemical weapons, Assad replied: "That depends. If the rebels or
the terrorists in this region or any other group have it, it could happen. I don't know. I'm not a fortune teller to tell you what's going to happen."
Meanwhile, Russian and Syrian foreign ministers say they will push for the return of United Nations inspectors to Syria to continue their probe into the use of chemical weapons, AP reported.
Sergei Lavrov said after Monday's talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem that Moscow will continue to promote a peaceful settlement and may try to convene a gathering of all Syrian opposition figures who are interested in peaceful settlement.
Reuters reported Syrian government forces launched an offensive to wrest back
control of an historic Christian town north of Damascus yesterday, activists said.
In the past six days, the town of Maaloula has already changed hands three times between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebel groups, some of which are linked to al-Qaeda.
Combatants say the intensity of fighting over the town is due to its strategic location near the road leading from Damascus to the central city ofHoms.
But fighting in an area with such religious symbolism could increase anxieties among the Christian minority, who have watched sectarian violence between majority Sunni Muslims and the Alawite minority overshadow the revolt against Assad's rule.