DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with the BBC that the United States cannot function as "an impartial arbiter" in talks with Israel.
"How can you talk about peace and at the same time isolation?" Assad asked. "How can you talk about peace and you adopt the doctrine of pre-emptive war?"
He said that he believes that Syria and Israel can reach an accommodation. But he suggested that would depend on both countries and the European Union and United States supporting and implementing U.N. resolutions
Assad accused the United States and other western countries of using Syria as a scapegoat and denied supporting insurgents in Iraq and allowing them to cross the border.
While Assad said he does not support terrorism, he suggested that it is important to distinguish between true terrorist groups and organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas that have popular support.
"When they have the support of the people you cannot label them as terrorists because this way you label the people as terrorists," he said.
