Assad Says Europe Will ‘Pay Price’ if It Arms Rebels: Newspaper

"If the Europeans deliver weapons, the backyard of Europe will become terrorist"

From Reuters:  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned Europe in a German newspaper interview that it will "pay the price" if it follows Washington’s lead and delivers arms to rebel forces, saying such a move would spread terrorism to the continent.

"If the Europeans deliver weapons, the backyard of Europe will become terrorist and Europe will pay the price for it," he said in an interview published on Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s website on Monday.

In his first comments since the United States announced on Thursday that it would be supplying military aid to rebels fighting for his overthrow, Assad warned that delivering arms would result in the export of "terrorism" to Europe.

"Terrorists will gain experience in combat and return with extremist ideologies," he said.

"For Europe there is no alternative to cooperating with the Syrian state, even if Europe doesn’t like it."  (photo: Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/ABR/Slate)

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