Syria's Assad warns of "quake" if West intervenes

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned on Sunday that any western intervention in his country would result in an “earthquake” that would inflame the region. Almost 100 people have died in the last two days in continued protests against Assad’s rule. 

REUTERS

Assad gave a rare interview to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph, saying that Syria was a hub in the region as well as a “fault line.”

“If you play with the ground, you will cause an earthquake – do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans? Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region."

His warning came as 20 Syrian soldiers were killed and 53 wounded during clashes in Homs on Saturday, while 10 security agents and a deserter were killed in a bus ambush.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that an undetermined number of people were killed in their homes by security forces in Homs on Saturday. At least 12 more civilians died from sniper and machine-gun fire.

On Friday, 36 civilians were killed in security force fire during protests that urged the West to impose a no-fly zone over Syria, similar to that in Libya.

Homs and Hama have been at the forefront of the anti-government protests that began last March and have claimed more than 3,000 lives.