MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - The United States is using the conflict in Syria to maintain its presence in the Middle East, the chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia, Heydar Jemal, told RIA Novosti Thursday.
“I believe that Assad is a political figure used by Americans to maintain a presence in the region [Middle East]," Jemal told RIA Novosti in an interview.
"Some say that the United States seeks to overthrow [Syrian President Bashar] Assad. I would call it wishful thinking or, to be more precise, prejudiced ideas. Had the United States really wished to topple Assad, it would have already done it,” the Islamic Committee chairman elaborated.
Jemal drew a parallel line with the situation in Libya, when the country's long-standing leader was overthrown by rebels supported by a NATO bombing campaign.
“For example, we saw that the United States wanted [Muammar] Gaddafi to leave – and Gaddafi is no longer present. And Assad is present, safe and sound. Moreover, the Free Syrian Army is gradually being dismissed, it practically doesn't exist. I think the real situation is much more complex,” Jemal concluded.
Anti-government protests that erupted in Syria in March 2011 triggered an increasingly bloody civil war in the country that, according to UN recent estimates has claimed the lives of more than 191,000 people over a three-year period.
