Syria's Assad says rebels will be defeated

21 Sep 2012, 9:17 pm   -   Source: AAP
At least 30 civilians have been reported killed in a massive explosion in northeast Syria. (AAP)

At least 30 civilians have been reported killed in a massive explosion in northeast Syria. (AAP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the rebels will be defeated and insists he will not be deposed the way Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was.

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President Bashar al-Assad has warned that the opposition will not succeed in toppling his regime and lashed out at Syria's neighbours, accusing them of arming the rebels.

Assad said a foreign military intervention such as the one that helped topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will "not be repeated" in Syria.

The comments were published on Friday in Egypt's Al-Ahram Al-Arabi weekly, in a rare interview.

"The insurgents are practising terrorism. They have no popularity inside society... They will not win in the end," Assad said.

The interview is the first with an Egyptian publication in three years for the Syrian leader facing an unprecedented uprising and mounting pressure from countries such as Egypt to step down. It is to be published in full on Saturday.

"Change cannot be made by removing heads of the regime or by foreign intervention," al-Assad says.

"Of course, the resolution will take time. However, the door of dialogue is still open."

Referring to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, al-Assad said: "They are providing terrorists with arms and money in the hope of repeating the Libyan pattern... Qataris were quicker in stoking violence."

Turkey, he said, has "lost a lot" for taking the side of the opposition in the 19-month conflict.

"This government realises well where it has placed itself together with the Turkish interests and national security."

The interview with Assad came a day after regime airstrikes hit a gas station in northern Syria, setting off a fiery explosion that killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens.

Activists said the petrol station, in the village of Ain Issa, was hit by a warplane.

Syrian troops meanwhile backed by helicopter gunships clashed with rebels near an army barracks in Aleppo as pre-dawn battles broke out near a military airport elsewhere in the province, a monitor says.

Fighting erupted overnight near the Hanano barracks in the Arkoub district of northeast Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Two weeks ago, rebels stormed the Hanano base - perched on a hill and near the regime-controlled citadel that dominates the city - but were outgunned by the army and pushed out after three days of fierce battles.

Several districts of the northern metropolis, including Sakhur in the northeast and Bustan al-Qasr in the centre, came under overnight attack, the Britain-based watchdog said.

Elsewhere in the northern province, fighting broke out between troops and rebels near the Meng military airport, the watchdog said.

Military airports have been a key target for the rebels as the army has increasingly deployed warplanes and helicopter gunships to launch devastating strikes against them.

Northwest of the capital Damascus, the Observatory reported a massive explosion, believed to be a car bomb. Heavy gunfire was heard afterwards but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

In the central province of Homs, a civilian was killed in dawn shelling of Rastan, while the eastern city of Deir Ezzor and the town of Daal in the southern province of Daraa also came under bombardment.

On Thursday, at least 225 people - 140 civilians, 39 rebels and 46 government troops - were killed nationwide, according to the Observatory.

The dead included 25 civilians killed in Aleppo.

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