Assad: Risk of regional war if West strikes Syria

      
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said military strikes against his country would risk triggering a regional war.             

The Syrian leader said the Middle East is a "powder keg" and no one can say what will transpire if the West takes military action against Syria.               

He warned, however, that "the whole world will lose control of the situation. Chaos and extremism will spread. The risk of a regional war exists."

President Bashar al-Assad also scorned allegations that his forces were behind chemical attacks in Damascus last month and warned that any French military action against his government would trigger negative repercussions.               

"Those who make accusations must show evidence. We have challenged the United States and France to come up with a single piece of proof. (Presidents) Obama and Hollande have been incapable of doing so," Assad told the French daily Le Figaro in an interview.                

"Anybody who contributes to the financial and military reinforcement of terrorists is the enemy of the Syrian people. If the policies of the French state are hostile to the Syrian people, the state will be their enemy," he said. "There will be repercussions, negative ones obviously, on French interests."                


REUTERS/AP