The ideology that drove the suicide attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco needs to be dealt with socially rather than by security means, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Sunday.
The Syrian leader told the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba that he doubted Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network were capable of organizing attacks on such a large scale.
"We blame everything on al-Qaeda but what happened is more dangerous than bin Laden or al-Qaeda. We're talking about a certain ideological bloc. The issue is ideology, it's not an issue of organizations," Assad commented.
"Such an ideology cannot live without a certain social base. It has to convince people and strengthen its presence. Dealing with this issue should be through a social approach not through security," the Syrian leader added.
Assad said the bombings that killed scores of people were "interlinked with one ideological methodology".
"I cannot believe that bin Laden is the person able to outmanoeuvre the entire world. He cannot talk on telephones or use the internet. It's therefore impossible for him to be able to direct communications throughout the world. It would be illogical to claim as much. How can he plan in this manner and how can he move now?" he said.
"Is there really an entity called al-Qaeda? It was in Afghanistan, but is it there anymore?" Assad continued.
"When there are two attacks, one in the east of the Arab world and the other in the west, this means there is one school of thought and groups that live in different countries."
On the ties with Washington, Assad conveyed Damascus' "gates have been open to the Americans since 1974. However, their doors are not open to us". "The only problem between us and the United States is the issue of Israel," the Syrian president told the Kuwaiti newspaper.(Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
