Syria’s Assad Says Conspiracies Visible, Vows to Keep Power

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he wouldn’t abandon his responsibilities as “foreign conspiracies” aim to divide his country.

“Victory is near” and a campaign by foreign media against Syria has “failed,” he said today at Damascus University in his fourth national address since protests began in March. The unrest, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives, according to the United Nations, will end when weapons smuggling is stopped and Syria “defeats the conspiracy,” he said.