Assad denies role in brutality

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad has rejected accusations that he is responsible for the deaths of thousands of protesters in the country's nine-month uprising, telling an interviewer that he would be ''crazy'' if he killed his own people.

Mr Assad told US television journalist Barbara Walters that most of those killed in the violence had been his own soldiers and supporters. His performance, in which he came across as the same young, unruffled and genial figure as before the crisis, did not include any offer of remorse.

''We don't kill our people,'' he said. ''No government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person.''

A senior European diplomat said: ''He is very good at sounding reasonable and appealing to a Western audience, but behind closed doors is another matter.''

Mr Assad accepted only that some in the armed forces had ''gone too far'', but said punishments had been meted out in those cases. ''Every 'brute reaction' was by an individual, not by an institution, that's what you have to know.''

He tried to play down his role as commander-in-chief, querying a description of the armed forces as ''his''. ''They belong to the government. I don't own them. There were no commands to kill or be brutal.

''To be frank with you, Barbara, I don't believe you,'' he replied when Walters said she had seen pictures of children being arrested. ''You are talking about false allegations and distortions of reality.''

Mr Assad's interview comes as he is trying to ward off sanctions levied by the Arab League. His latest ''agreement'' to allow observers into the country came with so many attached conditions that it was rejected.

''I did my best to protect the people,'' he said. ''I cannot feel guilty when you do your best. You feel sorry for the lives that have been lost. But you don't feel guilty when you don't kill people.''