Syrian president blames foreign conspirators for inflaming protests

Observers predict further trouble after Friday prayers as Assad's TV broadcast, which detailed no reforms, angers the nation
syrian shopkeeper watches presidential TV broadcast
A shopkeeper watches the Syrian President on TV. Assad blamed a wave of protests on 'foreign conspirators'. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

Syrians reacted with anger and disappointment after their president, Bashar al-Assad, failed to deliver any decisive reforms in his first public appearance since the street uprising that has threatened his regime.

In homes and cafes around Damascus Assad was castigated for a speech which seemed tailored to send a message of strength to protesters demanding an overhaul of the Baathist old guard which has ruled Syria for 40 years. However, demonstrators had demanded much more and are unlikely to be appeased by Assad's main message that foreign conspirators were largely responsible for the unprecedented scenes across the country during the past fortnight.

"This is what happened in Egypt and Tunisia on repeat," said one young pro-change Syrian. "Excuses and arrogance."


However, Assad's speech offered no substantive concessions. He said satellite television and propaganda had incited demonstrators, although he also said that "not all demonstrators were conspirators". He added that the chaos in Syria had an Israeli agenda, but did not elaborate.

"This is the end of Syria," said one young engineer from the capital, Damascus. "There was no apology and no promise of reform. This only makes us angrier. He could have at least expressed sorrow for those who have died."

Residents of the southern city of Deraa, where at least 55 people have been killed during clashes with security forces, told the Guardian that the speech had been met with significant anger. Assad expressed grief for the deaths of "fathers and brothers" in Deraa and acknowledged that security forces had "made mistakes" during the clashes. However, he also said residents had a responsibility to stop the protests themselves.

"The speech was nonsense and has given security forces the green light to continue its oppression of our people," said a man who declined to be named, speaking by telephone from Deraa .

Even Assad's supporters seemed at a loss after the address, which was regularly interrupted by choreographed bursts of poetry from the floor. "Many Baathists were congratulating me today on the removal of emergency law," said one Christian businessman. "But now they are empty-handed as they face the Syrian people."

For a core of supporters, however, the speech may have made little difference. Some said he was received as honest for admitting to the need to fight corruption, and interpreted the speech as reiterating that reforms were needed.

Before the address one Syrian diplomat had said Assad was intent on striking a dignified tone. "The west needs to know that we are not their valet, their entry point to the region," the diplomat said. "And he will not be seen as capitulating to the protesters."

Analysts in Damascus said Assad had been strengthened by external support in recent days. In giving little by way of concession, he managed to adopt a more consistent narrative absolving the regime of blame.

"Reform was placed within the context of ongoing plans, meaning he can downplay the idea that he is reacting to discontent while at the same time saying it doesn't exist," said one.

Syria is of key strategic significance in the Middle East and a full-blown revolution would have widespread effects. Assad is aligned to an anti-western orbit, headed by Iran. However, he has attempted to broker improved relations with the United States over the past year and also to reach out to Europe.

Assad's regime is led by members of the minority Alawite sect, loosely aligned with Shia Islam. He has been a strong backer of Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah and has so far resisted US attempts to prise him free from them.

The US did not immediately react to the speech. However, across the Syrian border in Lebanon there was celebratory gunfire in the Shia heartland areas of the Bekaa Valley and the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, which is a Hezbollah heartland.

Some observers in Damascus said the speech would add weight to calls for further protests across the country on Friday. The scenes of recent clashes were quiet amid a large security presence, which is expected to be reinforced on Friday — a day of prayers that has seen a rise in violence for the past two weeks.

Katherine Marsh is a pseudonym for a journalist living in Damascus

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