Assad rejects idea of federalization as "prelude to dividing Syria"

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a interview that his government deems the idea of federalization of Syria as a prelude to dividing the country, state news agency SANA reported on Thursday.

In an interview with Croatian newspaper Vecernji List, Assad said there is no justification for federalization, as its aim is to bring Syria to a situation close to that of Iraq.

"With federalization, they could use this part or that part against the state, which should be strong, and you will have a weak state, a weak government and people," the president said.

Such an idea has emerged with Kurds' attempts to have their own autonomy in northern Syria, amid the talk that the end of the crisis would lie in federalizing the country, he added.

"What helped Syria steadfast today is being united, and if we had walked into the sectarian project akin to the Lebanese and Iraqi ways, as the Americans want, we would have been a country that is really having a civil war," Assad said, adding that what Syria is suffering from is not a civil war but a foreign scheme aiming to make it weak.

Meanwhile, the president said the presence of any power in Syria without the consent of the Syrian government is considered an invasion.

Assad also said his country was left no option but victory in Syria.

"We have big hope and this hope is linked to our faith and if there was no faith, there will be no hope," he said. Endit