Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara was forced to defend his past on stage at the Doha Forum on Saturday after being introduced as a former terrorist, insisting he has “never harmed a civilian” during more than two decades of fighting.
In a tense exchange with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, in front of officials, media and forum participants, he argued that the term “terrorist” has been used and abused for decades without a coherent definition.
“Saying that I was a terrorist and judging me as a terrorist is politicised,” he said. “Judging people as terrorists needs to be proven. Terrorists, in my opinion, are those who kill innocent people – children and women – and who use illegitimate means to harm people.”
Mr Al Shara said Gaza, Afghanistan, Iraq and the former Syrian regime under Bashar Al Assad were examples of state or military actors causing mass civilian casualties yet avoiding the label themselves.
“In Gaza, 60,000 people have been killed, most of them innocent,” he said. “The Syrian regime, over 14 years, killed more than one million people, and 250,000 remain disappeared – yet that regime is not called a terrorist.”
On a personal level, he claimed to “have never harmed a civilian,” adding that he fought on several fronts for more than 20 years “with honour”.
Mr Al Shara described last year’s lightning offensive on Damascus as “a merciful battle”.
“Have you ever seen a terrorist planning for 11 days to enter major cities like Aleppo, Raqqa, Damascus, Latakia and Sweida without one civilian being harmed?” he asked. “We broke prison doors with our own hands. We liberated people from Sednaya prison, where bodies were burnt with acid.”
He said “double standards” had long shaped perceptions of his movement, but “reality has prevailed”, adding that he is no longer listed as a terrorist by the UN Security Council.
Beyond the rapprochement
Beyond the defence of his past, Mr Al Shara used the forum in Qatar to argue that Syria has fulfilled every promise made to neighbours and global partners since he seized power a year ago.
He said his administration had “gone beyond the rapprochement phase” and restored a wide range of regional and international ties.
A year earlier, at the same forum, Qatari, Iranian, Turkish and other regional officials held round-the-clock consultations as rebels led by Mr Al Shara advanced on Damascus.
“This time last year, you were at the Doha Forum and we were getting ready to storm Damascus,” he said. “We probably changed the agenda of the forum back then.”
He claimed Syria is “on the right path”, with improved stability, rising economic indicators and a dramatic increase in electricity supply, from 90 minutes a day to 12 to 14 hours.
But he also acknowledged atrocities committed by his forces against minorities, including hundreds of Alawites and Druze. “There were crimes committed. We do not accept what happened, and the law will rule. We are working on holding those who caused and perpetrated them accountable,” he said.
Israeli incursions now pose one of his main challenges, he added, with negotiations continuing and the US directly engaged.
“All countries support an Israeli pull-out to the pre-December 8 lines,” he said, adding that Damascus is prepared to address “logical and reasonable security concerns”.
“It is Syria that is being attacked by Israel, not the opposite. So who has more right to demand a buffer zone and a pull-out?,” asked Mr Al Shara.
