Syria's Assad out of touch, U.S. says

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Given the Syrian president's statements during a recent interview, he is apparently disconnected from events on the ground, a U.S. official said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, in an English-language interview with ABC News, denied most of the allegations that his government was responsible for atrocities spelled out by the United Nations.

"We don't kill our people," he said. "No government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person."

Mark Toner, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Assad's comments during the interview suggest he's out of touch with reality.

"He appeared utterly disconnected with the reality that's going on in his country and the brutal repression that's being carried out against the Syrian people," Toner said. "It's either disconnection, disregard, or, as he said, crazy."

Washington this week said it was sending its ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, back to the country after he briefed U.S. government officials.

Toner said Ford was going back to support the Syrian opposition and send a "very clear message" to Damascus that democratic transition needs to take place.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in statements before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, called on the international community to take effective measures to protect Syrian civilians from further abuse, torture and attacks by government forces.

Since March, she said, more than 4,000 people, including 307 children, were killed.