Weighing
in on one of the most contentious issues in American politics — the
danger posed to host countries by the 4.8 million people who have fled
from Syria’s civil war — Syrian President Bashar Assad told Yahoo News
that some of the refugees are “definitely” terrorists.
In
an exclusive interview with Yahoo News at a presidential office in
Damascus, Assad said President Trump’s freeze on admitting refugees from
his country — part of an executive order that has drawn widespread
protests and is being challenged in federal court — “is an American
issue” on which he would not take sides. But asked if some of those who
fled are “aligned with terrorists,” Assad quickly replied, “Definitely.”
“You
can find it on the Net,” Assad went on: “Those terrorists in Syria,
holding the machine gun or killing people, they [appear as] peaceful
refugees in Europe or in the West.” He said he couldn’t estimate how
many there might be, but he added that “you don’t need a significant
number to commit atrocities.” He noted that the 9/11 attacks were pulled
off by fewer than 20 terrorists “out of maybe millions of immigrants in
the United States. So it’s not about the number, it’s about the
quality, it’s about the intentions.”
As
for the future of Syria’s 4.8 million refugees, Assad said, “For me,
the priority is to bring those citizens to their country, not to help
them immigrate.”
As
with all interviews granted by President Bashar al-Assad, this
interview was filmed by his presidential press office. No editorial
changes were made to the content.
