BASHAR AL-ASSAD SAYS ‘TERRORISTS’ HIDING AMONG SYRIAN REFUGEES

Washington: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said some of the countless refugees have fled his country’s conflict ar “terrorists,” in an interview revealed on Friday.
“Those terrorists in Syria holding machine guns or killing individuals, they are peaceful refugees in Europe or within the West,” the Syrian leader said. He did not specify what percentage of the 4.8 million Syrian refugees he meant, saying “you don’t want a vital variety to commit atrocities.”
He also rejected Trump’s set up to carve out safe zones for civilians in Syrian Arab Republic. The US president aforesaid last month that he “will completely do safe zones in Syria” for individuals displaced by the violence in a bid to reverse their migration to Europe et al. He did not provide details.
“Safe zones for the Syrians could solely happen once you have stability and security. Where you don’t have terrorists. Where you don’t have flow and support of those terrorists by the neighboring countries or by Western countries,” Assad said.
“It’s not a realistic idea in the slightest degree.” The White House last month ordered the Pentagon and State Department to draw up a plan to “provide safe areas in Syrian Arab Republic and within the close region.”
The announcement came ahead of a surprise ban on refugees from Syria traveling to the us, which a court has since suspended. Other United States of America politicians and officers have long supported the plan of safe zones in Syrian Arab Republic, including Democrats such as Trump’s presidential rival Hillary Clinton.
Critics say it would risk the US military turning into over-involved in Syria’s war.