Assad criticized the U.S. and Britain for sending financial and other non-lethal aid to the opposition. He said he was ready for dialogue with armed rebels and militants, but only if they surrendered their weapons.  

"We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms. We are not going to deal with terrorists who are determined to carry weapons to terrorize people, to kill civilians, to attack public places or private enterprise and to destroy the country," Assad told the Sunday Times. "We fight terrorism." 

"This (British) government is acting in a naive, confused and unrealistic manner," he said of Prime Minister David Cameron's conservative leadership, for trying to end an EU arms embargo so that the rebels could be supplied with weapons. 

"We do not expect an arsonist to be a firefighter," he said, dismissing a suggestion that Britain could help to resolve the conflict. 

"If they want to play a role they have to change this, they have to act in a more reasonable and responsible way." 

The two countries have not had contact for a long time, he said. 

Offering a message to "anyone who is talking about the Syrian people," he said, "only Syrian people can tell the president to stay or leave, come or go, no one else." 

Lebanese-British reporter Hala Jaber, who also interviewed Assad in 2011, spoke this time to the president in Damascus. Jaber said Assad, who was softly spoken throughout the sit-down interview, adopted a conciliatory tone when discussing future negotiations. 

"We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms," he declared. "We are not going to deal with terrorists who are determined to carry weapons, to terrorize people, to kill civilians, to attack public places or private enterprise and to destroy the country." 

The interview was timed to coincide with Kerry's first foreign tour as secretary of state. Kerry met Syrian rebels in Rome last Thursday and announced that $60 million of "non-lethal" U.S. aid would go directly to them for the first time. 

"The intelligence, communication and financial assistance being provided is very lethal," Assad countered, pointing out that "non-lethal" technology had been used to deadly effect in the 9/11 attacks. 

William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, is expected to announce a package of British assistance this week. 

"The British government wants to send military aid to moderate groups in Syria, knowing all too well that such moderate groups do not exist in Syria," Assad said. "We all know that we are now fighting Al-Qaeda, or Jabhat al-Nusra, an offshoot of Al-Qaeda, and other groups of people indoctrinated with extreme ideologies. 

"This is beyond hypocritical," he added, echoing Hague's comment about him. 

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings. 

Western states have been calling for Assad to step down. However, Russia and China are strongly opposed to the Western drive to oust Assad. 

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals, mostly from Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia.    Add Comments>>