Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is talking confidently after a May 7 poll that he says proves the Syrian people back his regime. Assad sat down with a Russian TV station in an interview that aired Wednesday, saying rebels were issuing “threats of terrorists” across the country. Al-Assad said his people are “supporting the policy of reform” and “support the institutions of the state” after the poll saw voter turnout of 51 percent. Only limited results from the poll have been released so far. Al-Assad said that the Western media has only talked of the government’s violence, and not that which has been waged by rebels. He is scheduled to meet with special envoy Kofi Annan later this month and will “ask him what this is about” in reference to the media’s coverage.
