Assad Says Syria Will Stay on Socialist Path
President Hafez Assad has ruled out any East European-style political and economic changes for Syria and said his country will continue to develop its own brand of socialism.
In his first comments on the winds of change sweeping Eastern Europe, Assad told a group of retiring parliamentary deputies: “Socialism is not intended to oppress others. It is intended to remove oppression from the oppressed.”
Assad’s comments to deputies who ended their four-year term Monday were carried by Syria’s official news agency and reported Wednesday in local newspapers.
Assad, 59, has wielded power in Syria with an iron fist since taking over the country in a bloodless coup in 1970.
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