Assad says US 'partnering with terrorists to destabilize Syria'

Damascus, July 9 (ANI): Syrian President Bashar-al Assad has accused the United States of fueling a violent uprising against his government.

In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Assad said that Washington ultimately bears responsibility for the deaths of innocent civilians in the Middle Eastern nation.

"The U.S. is partnering with those terrorists with weapons, money or public and political support at the United Nations," Assad told German broadcaster ARD.

"They offer the umbrella and political support to those gangs to destabilize Syria," he added.

According to Fox News, Assad rejected responsibility of his security forces for the violence, saying that 'supporters of the government, the victims from the security and the army' far outnumber those among civilians.

He said that an opposition made up of terrorists, gangs, 'a mixture, an amalgam of Al Qaeda (and) other extremists' is responsible for the violence.

When asked directly about the killing of over 100 civilians in the Syrian village of Houla in May, Assad blamed it on gangs who 'came in hundreds from outside the city.' (ANI)