Al-Assad blames armed gangs for Syria's unrest

(CNN) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered vague promises of reform and clear threats against protesters Monday as he addressed his nation amid months of protests that have left more than 1,100 dead, according to human rights activists.

The Syrian leader said he was "working on getting the military back to their barracks as soon as possible" but also warned that the government would "work on tracking down everyone who shed bloods or plotted in shedding the blood of the Syrian people, and we will hold them accountable."

He raised the possibility of amending the country's constitution and referred to the need for a "national dialogue" -- but made clear that his government would not engage directly with the opposition.

"It is not a dialogue of the opposition with the government... but it should be a dialogue that will include all fabrics of the Syrian society," he said in the speech, his third to the country in three months.

Al-Assad blamed armed gangs and conspiracies for the violence that has gripped the country, saying the unrest has tarnished the country's image and weakened its security.

"There are some who are distorting the image of the Syrian nation abroad, and they wanted to open the gates and even called for foreign intervention. They tried to weaken the national political position," he said in the speech to an enthusiastic audience at Damascus University.

"There are those who are killing the name of religion and want to spread chaos under the pretext of religion," he said, referring to conspiracies as "germs" that cannot be "exterminated."

Al-Assad has faced growing criticism from leaders in the United States, Europe and elsewhere over a violent government clampdown on demonstrators.

During the address, al-Assad said he had met a number of Syrians who voiced legitimate demands to improve the economy and increase personal freedoms.

He promised to "reform what has been damaged," though he warned it would take time.

"For us, the reform process is an absolute conviction that will be in the best interest of the nations and the citizen. We just can't jump into the unknown. We are working on building the way to our future," al-Assad said.

The speech follows protests a day earlier by children, who held anti-government signs and criticized al-Assad.

A video posted on YouTube showed a demonstration the cameraman claims took place Sunday in the Damascus suburb of Kaboon. In the video, dozens of mostly young people walk down a street brandishing signs, chanting and, in some cases, wearing party hats with messages on them. They are joined by a handful of adults, including one man who puts a boy on his shoulders as they march.

Another YouTube video, purportedly from the coastal city of Latakia, shows a group of young boys clapping and voicing anti-government sentiments. One boy leads the chants, with no adults visible.

The repeated phrases ranged from the patriotic "Long live Syria" to others targeting Syria's leader with slogans like "Bashar al-Assad go away" and "The people need the fall of the regime."

CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of videos. The network has not been allowed into Syria to cover the unrest and draws from social media and interviews with witnesses on the ground there to inform its reporting.

An opposition activist, who spoke to CNN from Syria on condition of anonymity, said that such demonstrations have become a daily ritual in the Middle Eastern country, with children embracing their parents' politics and following their lead in voicing their views publicly. Parents and teachers are often nearby in these protests, which typically happen in neighborhoods near homes or schools, the activist claimed.

There was no indication of violence Sunday, unlike what's been reported during dozens of other protests that have erupted since the mid-March arrest of teens for writing anti-government graffiti in Daraa.

Critics have accused forces loyal to al-Assad of targeting defenseless demonstrators and hindering outside help for those in need. The Syrian government has consistently blamed the protest casualties on "armed gangs."

Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, the Red Cross' director for the Near East and Middle East, said in an interview posted last month on the group's website that a lack of information and access has greatly hindered humanitarian assistance to Syria.

The head of her group, International Committee of the Red Cross President Jakob Kellenberger, will arrive in the Syrian capital on Sunday night, the organization announced via Twitter.

He plans to "discuss the humanitarian situation" and the role of the Red Cross with Syrian authorities, the nonprofit group said.

Kellenberger's visit comes two days after another high-profile activist -- actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie -- met with Syrian refugees in Turkey and drew attention to the anguish faced by families affected by the violence and reported government crackdown.

The Turkish government has said more than 10,100 Syrians have crossed the border. About 3,000 more were huddled on the Syrian border near Badama, eyewitness Jameel Saib told CNN Saturday.

Refugees are living in four camps managed by Turkey and the Turkish Red Crescent, the U.N.'s refugee agency reported Saturday.

CNN's Saad Abedine and Kamal Ghattas contributed to this report.

CNN

Obama to al-Assad: Embrace democracy

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama's new blueprint for change in the Middle East slammed the Syrian government for "murder and mass arrests" and sent a blunt message to President Bashar al-Assad to get with democratic change.

In a wide-ranging speech about Middle East policy on Thursday, Obama touched on the fierce Syrian crackdown against the street demonstrations that have rippled across the country since mid-March.

Obama told an audience at the State Department that Syrians have displayed "courage in demanding a transition to democracy" but the regime "has chosen the path of murder and the mass arrests of its citizens."

"President Assad now has a choice: He can lead that transition, or get out of the way. The Syrian government must stop shooting demonstrators and allow peaceful protests; release political prisoners and stop unjust arrests; allow human rights monitors to have access to cities like Daraa; and start a serious dialogue to advance a democratic transition. Otherwise, President Assad and his regime will continue to be challenged from within and isolated abroad," he said.

He also said that Syria has sought help from Iran "in the tactics of suppression."

"This speaks to the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime, which says it stand for the rights of protesters abroad, yet suppresses its people at home. Let us remember that the first peaceful protests were in the streets of Tehran."

Obama's speech was aired on Syrian state television.

On Wednesday, Obama imposed new sanctions against al-Assad and those around him, and earlier Thursday, Syria denounced the move, state TV reported.

"The measures by the United States are one in a series of sanctions imposed by the consecutive American administrations against the Syrian people, as part of its regional plans, whose priority is to serve the Israeli interest," state-run Syrian TV reported.

"Any hostile act against Syria is an American contribution to the Israeli aggression against Syria and the Arabs."

The sanctions also target two top Iranian officials whose unit was a "conduit for Iranian material support" to Syrian intelligence, according to a copy of Obama's executive order issued by the White House.

But, the Syrian TV report said, "the sanctions have not and will not affect Syria's independent decision making, and its resistance in the face of continuous American attempts to control its national decision making and the completion of comprehensive reform."

Hezbollah, the Shiite militant movement based in Lebanon, also blasted the U.S. sanctions toward Syria, saying the United States is "settling a score with Syria and its leadership for its commitment to the choice of resistance and its objection against the Israeli occupation and the American hegemony, and its rejection to obey the American-Israeli dictates."

It ridiculed U.S. claims to protect the freedoms of Arabs, citing bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan and Israel's "crimes" in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967.

"We are confident that this blatant American intervention and exercising of pressure and the instigation will not prevent the Syrian people and its leadership from keeping their national commitments towards the rightful causes of the nation and at its front the Palestinian cause, and the struggle with the Israeli enemy and the rejection of American occupation of Arab and Muslim lands."

Obama's speech touched a range of Middle East-North Africa flashpoints -- including Egypt, Tunisia, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Yemen, Bahrain, and Libya.

The speech came nearly two years after Obama delivered an address in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, calling for "a new beginning" between the United States and the Muslim world.

On Sunday, clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces erupted along Israel's borders and occupied territories, leaving at least 12 dead on a Palestinian mourning day marking the birth of the Jewish state.

Two protesters were killed and 170 were wounded Sunday when fighting broke out in the Golan Heights area, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said. And at least 10 were killed and 112 others were injured in clashes along the line of demarcation with Lebanon, Lebanon's state news agency reported.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops fired on demonstrators who were illegally crossing from Lebanon and Syria and damaging "security infrastructure." But Syrian and Lebanese officials criticized what they said were Israeli attacks, state media reported.

Israel's military accused Syria of inciting a crisis to divert attention from its own clampdown on anti-government demonstrations. Ten Israeli soldiers and three officers were injured in the clashes, the Israel Defense Forces reported.

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