Syrian President Bashar al-Assad taunted U.S. President Barack Obama as a "weak" leader who had no proof Assad had used chemical weapons on his country's own people, and warned that U.S. airstrikes could set off a "regional war."
"For us, a strong man prevents rather than starts a war," Assad told the French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview, as translated by NBC News. "If Obama was strong, he would have said publicly: 'We have no evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian state.' He would have said publicly: 'The only way to proceed is through U.N. investigations. We therefore refer everything to the Security Council.'
"But Obama is weak because he is facing pressure from within the United States."
The White House accused Assad of being responsible for the death of 1,429 people in the attack, including 426 children.
"We intercepted communications involving a senior official intimately familiar with the offensive who confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime on August 21 and was concerned with the U.N. inspectors obtaining evidence," the report read.
U.N. inspectors left Syria on Saturday and have asked its chemical weapons inspection team to speedily investigate samples gathered to determine whether chemical weapons were used.
In the interview with Le Figaro, Assad did not deny that his army possessed chemical weapons. But he did question why he would authorize the use of such weapons, especially if his own soldiers were in the area of the attack.
Assad also warned that if attacked, Syria could turn the Middle East into a war zone that goes far beyond Syrian borders.
SOURCE: Business Insider
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