In a televised speech to parliament Sunday, Syrian President Bashar Assad insisted that his government played no role in last week’s massacre in Houla that left over 100 people dead. The embattled leader, facing mounting pressure from the international community to end the violence, blamed the bloodshed on foreign terrorists.
“We are facing a real war from outside,” Assad said. “Despite the political and reform process which we launched, terror has not stopped. I don’t have a magic wand. I have tried all political solutions with no avail. Terror will not stop unless we force it to stop.”