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Syria's Assad Blames Protests on "Conspiracy"
(Washington Post) Edward Cody - In a televised speech, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared that protesters were dupes of unnamed enemies. "We are all reformers....But people were duped into taking to the streets." The Syrian leader seemed to be betting that his feared security services will be able to put down the protest movement, even at the cost of more bloodshed. Pro-democracy activists were particularly disappointed that Assad did not announce an end to the emergency rule that for the past 48 years has suffocated civil liberties and guaranteed a monopoly on political life by the ruling Baath Party.