Q: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: "Nobody can deny the seriousness of these plots" 
  
 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed a foreign conspiracy for trying to destabilise Syria, as a mass uprising against his rule continues. 
  
 The "external conspiracy is clear to everybody", Mr Assad said in his first public remarks in months. 
  
 He said elections could be held later this year but "terrorism", he added, would be met with an "iron fist". 
  
 Meanwhile the Arab League said it held the government "totally responsible" for attacks against its observers. 
  
 In a statement issued on Tuesday, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi denounced "irresponsible action and acts of violence against the league's observers" in Syria. 
  
 Mr Arabi said some monitors had been wounded in attacks by both pro-regime elements and by opposition supporters. 
  
 Analysis We have heard much of this script before from Bashar al-Assad. The crisis in his country has been caused by a foreign conspiracy; the protesters are terrorists; he still has the support of the Syrian people; and his government alone will implement reform. It was a rambling speech to a sympathetic audience. The president appeared relaxed, even managing a few jokes. But there was no flexibility in his view of the uprising, which is blamed entirely on other countries and internal enemies - not even the smallest acknowledgement that the protesters may have legitimate demands. It is possible he really believes this Orwellian narrative. Or it is possible he was shoring up his base, sticking to his guns to show them he intends to stay at the helm. He offered a timetable for reform, stating that a new constitution could be put to a referendum by March this year, with multiparty elections following two or three months after that. Given the turmoil in Syria, this is an impossibly tight schedule. Either the president is making a promise he knows he cannot honour or he has lost his grip on reality. 
  
 Earlier, Kuwait's state news agency said two Kuwaiti members of the mission had been slightly injured on Monday in the city of Latakia by "unidentified protesters". 
  
 They were discharged from hospital and have now returned to their duties, Kuna news agency said. 
  
 'No order to fire' 
  
 President Assad's speech, broadcast live from Damascus University, was his third televised address since protests against his rule began in March, and lasted nearly two hours. 
  
 "Regional and international sides have tried to destabilise the country," he said. 
  
 "Our priority now is to regain the security in which we basked in for decades, and this can only be achieved by hitting the terrorists with an iron fist. 
  
 "We will not be lenient with those who work with outsiders against the country." 
  
 BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs says the speech was a riposte to those who are asking questions about the pressure under which Mr Assad is operating. 
  
 It was a message that there will be no concessions and its main theme was that nothing is going to change as far as the Syrian response is concerned, our correspondent says. 
  
 I rule with the will of the people. If I give up power, I will do so with the will of the people too President Bashar al-Assad 
  
 Syrian authorities say they are fighting armed groups, and that about 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed so far. 
  
 In recent months, army deserters have joined the opposition and targeted government forces. 
  
 A team of 165 monitors from the Arab League has been in Syria since December to monitor implementation of a peace plan that calls for an end to all violence, the removal of heavy weapons from cities and the release of all political prisoners. 
  
 Opposition groups have accused the Arab League mission of serving to cover up the crackdown on the protests, which has continued despite the presence of the observers. 
  
 Mr Assad said that there were no orders for security forces to fire on protesters. 
  
 "There is no order from any level about opening fire on any citizen. According to the law, nobody should open fire - only in self-defence or during a clash with an armed person." 
  
 Reacting to the speech, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, said Mr Assad's emphasis on restoring order "means he is backing away from his own pledge to the Arab League plan". 
  
 Image caption Anti-government protests have continued despite a heavy crackdown against them 
  
 Mr Ghalioun said the anti-terrorist measures announced by Mr Assad "undercut any Arab or non-Arab initiative to find a political solution to the crisis". 
  
 The Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of anti-government activists, said 35 protesters had been killed on Tuesday, including 17 in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour. 
  
 The UN says 400 people have been killed by security forces since the start of the observer mission. Last month the UN put the death toll since March at 5,000. 
  
 'No snap reforms' 
  
 In his speech, Mr Assad lashed out at the Arab League, which suspended Syria in November and imposed sanctions, saying: "We were surprised Arabs did not stand with Syria". 
  
 He said Arab countries that opposed Syria were under outside pressure, which was undermining their sovereignty. 
  
 But, he added, Syria would not "close its doors" to an Arab solution as long as "it respects Syria's sovereignty". 
  
 There were no obstacles to a multi-party system, he said, adding that it was a question of time. 
  
 Mr Assad said he welcomed the idea of expanding the government to include "all political forces". 
  
 A referendum on a new constitution could be held in March, he said, paving the way for elections in May or June. 
  
 Syria is ruled by the Baath party, dominated by President Assad's family and the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam. 
  
 He took power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for 40 years. 
  
 "I rule with the will of the people," he said. "If I give up power, I will do so with the will of the people too." ||||| The Syrian president has made a defiant speech blaming foreign interference for the anti-government uprising in his country which began last March. 
  
 In a televised speech on Tuesday, he accused the Arab League of hypocrisy for lecturing Syria on democracy and reform. However, he said his country would not "close the doors" to an Arab-brokered solution to the crisis as long as it respected Syria's sovereignty. 
  
 Assad claimed he never ordered anyone to open fire on anti-government protesters. However, opposition activists said at least 28 people were killed across the country on Tuesday alone as part of the government's security crackdown. 
  
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 Assad asked what right other Arab governments, including the absolute monarchies of the Gulf, had to lecture Syria about democracy or reform. 
  
 "The first parliament in Syria was in 1917. Where were they then?" he said. 
  
 "Their situation is like a doctor who smokes and recommends to his patient to give up smoking while he, the doctor, has a cigarette in his mouth." 
  
 The Arab League suspended Syria and sent a team of monitors in late December to assess whether the government is abiding by its peace plan agreed to by Assad last month. 
  
 At a Security Council meeting in New York on Syria on Tuesday, delegates were informed by a UN official that up to 400 people had been killed since the regional body's monitoring mission began - on top of an earlier UN estimate of more than 5,000 dead since March. 
  
 'No orders to open fire' 
  
 Assad's address at Damascus University was his first public speech since he agreed last month to the deployment of the Arab League monitors. 
  
 He said the unrest had inflicted a "heavy cost" and accused "foreign conspirators" of working to destabilise the country. 
  
 He also said that no orders had been given to security forces to open fire on civilians. 
  
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 "There is no cover for anyone. There are no orders for anyone to open fire on any citizen," Assad said, adding that "by law, nobody can open fire, except in self-defence". 
  
 Assad said it had been his idea to send observers to Syria "to find out the truth". 
  
 He also said he would not step down, claiming he still had the Syrian people's support, despite months of anti-government protests across the country against his rule. 
  
 "When I leave office it will be by the will of the people," he said. 
  
 Assad defended the government's ban on most reporting by foreign media inside the country, saying that at the beginning of the unrest all media had been allowed to work freely. 
  
 "But fabrications from inside convinced us to put some control on this," he said. 
  
 Al Jazeera is among many media organisations banned from reporting without restrictions from inside Syria. 
  
 Opposition reacts 
  
 Reacting to Assad's speech, the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest opposition umbrella group, called it an "incitement to violence" indicating "more criminal behaviour" by the government. 
  
 "There is incitement to violence, incitement to civil strife, some talks about sectarian divisions which the regime itself has fomented and encouraged," Basma Qadmani, an SNC member, said in the Turkish city of Istanbul. 
  
 "Our concern today is that such a speech is quite indicative of the total dismissal by the regime of the international community. 
  
 "And that is an indication that we are going in the direction of more irresponsible and more criminal behaviour by the regime in the coming days and weeks." 
  
  
  
 Journalist Nir Rosen discusses the situation in Syria 
  
 Qadmani also said Assad's speech indicates that the government "is breaking up with the Arab League". 
  
 "This is a turning point, a rupture with its Arab environment," she said. 
  
 For his part, Assad, who has made repeated promises of reforms, said a new constitution would soon be put to a referendum, with a vote possible by March, followed by multi-party parliamentary elections within months. 
  
 "After legislation has been drawn up and a constitution... we will call a referendum... [maybe] in the first week of March." he said. "Elections must be linked to a new constitution. They could be at the start of May." 
  
 Assad urged Syrians to remain steadfast, telling them that "victory is near" and that outside forces had been unable to "find a foothold in the revolution that they had hoped for". 
  
 He also pledged to hit back at so-called terrorists following a pair of deadly bombings in Damascus and spreading violence blamed on anti-government forces. 
  
 "There can be no let-up for terrorism - it must be hit with an iron fist," Assad said. "The battle with terrorism is a battle for everyone, a national battle, not only the government's battle." 
  
 Not 'totally uncompromising' 
  
 Speaking to Al Jazeera, Patrick Seale, author of several books on Syria, said that while Assad's speech was tough, it was not "totally uncompromising". 
  
 "He spoke of a new constitution, and putting it to a referendum, fresh elections, and that a new government would be formed," Seale said. 
  
 "I would say that he remains very much in control. I wouldn't say he was frightened, because the opposition is not in a position to topple him." 
  
 Seale said that there was still a slice of the population who seemed to favour Assad. "It is not as if the whole country is against him," he said. "The opposition, as brave as it is, hasn't come up with a clear project or a clear leader. 
  
 "The problems are how to stop the killings, and how are the Syrians going to be able to live together after this blood-letting." |||||
A:
Bashar al-Assad gave a rare speech on state-run TV today, in which he lashed out at the Arab League and vowed to deal harshly with violent unrest. The Syrian president asked what right the Arab League, which includes absolute monarchies, had to preach about democracy and reform. "Their situation is like a doctor who smokes and recommends to his patient to give up smoking while he, the doctor, has a cigarette in his mouth," he said, according to al-Jazeera. He insisted that the military had no orders to open fire on protesters or other civilians, and said he had personally recommended the League's observer mission. But he vowed to combat the "terrorists" opposing him, whom he said were part of a foreign conspiracy. "We will not be lenient with those who work with outsiders," he said, according to the BBC. "Our priority now is to regain security … and this can only be achieved by hitting the terrorists with an iron fist."