Assad slams Britain in interview with The Sunday Times

Syrian President Bashar Assad strongly criticized the British government, calling it "shallow and immature".            

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Assad ruled out any proposition that Britain could help to resolve the conflict saying: "We do not expect an arsonist to be a firefighter."        

He added: "How can we expect to ask Britain to play a role while it's determined to militarize the problem?”            

He said Britain was not trusted by many in the Middle East, saying it has been viewed as "unconstructive" in the region for centuries, stressing that “there has been no contact between Syria and Britain for a long time.                          

"You cannot separate the role from the credibility, and you cannot separate the credibility from the history of that country.                        

On the other hand, Assad called on those who seek to end violence to exert pressure on Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to halt providing the terrorists with money and weapons, stressing that this is the only key solution to end violence in Syria.                  

However, Assad reiterated his refusal to step down, saying in response to the call of US Secretary of State John Kerry: “My message is not only to Kerry, but to everyone willing to speak about the Syrian crisis, my message of that the Syrians are the only ones who can tell the President to stay or to leave.”                

The Syrian President also accused France, Britain and the US of directly and indirectly supporting terrorism in Syria, on the political and military levels.