叙利亚总统阿萨德说，没有给政府安全部队下令对平民开枪。阿萨德把叙利亚长达10个月的反政府动乱归咎于一个“外国阴谋”。阿萨德星期二在首都大马士革发表了100分钟的讲话，他说，在叙利亚恢复安全是当务之急，为达到这一目的可以用“铁拳”回应“恐怖分子”。阿萨德赞扬了安全部队的工作。叙利亚政府指责 “恐怖主义武装分子”推动了这次反对阿萨德11年独裁统治的起义。这名四面受敌的总统星期二还说，他只有在人民要求他离职时才会离职。
阿萨德承诺，会让叙利亚民众在3月的一次全民公决中投票决定新宪法，随后举行议会选举。阿萨德还说，他不会排除用阿拉伯国家联盟的方式解决叙利亚危机，只要叙利亚的主权得到尊重。阿萨德指责国际媒体对叙利亚造成负面影响，他还批评了阿拉伯国家联盟。阿盟去年11月中止了叙利亚的成员国资格。阿萨德发表讲话之际，阿拉伯国家联盟的观察员团队继续在叙利亚执行任务，观察叙利亚是否遵从结束几个月以来对反政府抗议者使用暴力的方案。
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says no orders were given for government security forces to fire on civilians and he blamed a "foreign conspiracy" for the 10 month old anti-government uprising in his country. In a 100-minute speech Tuesday in the capital, Damascus, Mr. Assad said restoring security in Syria is a priority, and can be achieved by responding to "terrorists" with an "iron fist." He praised the work of the security forces.The Syrian government has accused "armed terrorists" of driving the revolt against Mr. Assad's 11-year autocratic rule. The embattled president said Tuesday he will only leave his position at the will of the people.
Mr. Assad promised to let Syrians vote on a new constitution in a March referendum with parliamentary elections to follow. He also said he will not rule out any Arab solution to the crisis in Syria, as long as it respects the country's sovereignty. Mr. Assad accused international media of working against Syria and also criticized the Arab League, which suspended Syria's membership in November. The speech comes as a team of Arab League monitors continues its mission to observe Syria's compliance with a plan to end violence against anti-government protesters.
