ranking officer to defect from Syria's armed forces said Tuesday he had taken refuge in Turkey, denying claims that he had been arrested when Syrian troops overran a rebel stronghold, state-run Anatolian news agency said. “We live in a safe place in Turkey, I am grateful to the government and people of Turkey. Turkish officials cared about us,” Colonel Riad Al-Asaad said in an interview datelined Hatay in southern Turkey. Armed resistance to President Bashar Al-Assad's rule has emerged in recent weeks, six months into a pro-democracy uprising that government forces have tried to crush with violent tactics. “All of my needs are being met by Turkish officials,” said Asaad, who has emerged as commander of the rebel Syrian Free Army. “The opposition forces in Syria must unite and strengthen their stand until the regime is demolished.” The rebel colonel's presence in Hatay, now home to several thousand Syrian refugees, will add to tensions between Ankara and Damascus. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit Hatay soon and is expected to announce sanctions against Syria after having failed to convince his former friend President Assad to halt attacks on civilians and make urgent political reforms. Speaking to Reuters from the Syrian-Turkish border Friday, Colonel Asaad said more than 10,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian army and were attacking security forces. The 50-year-old Air Force officer, who comes from Idlib, a northwest Syrian province bordering Turkey, said Syrian state media were issuing false reports to undermine morale. “The Syrian regime conducted a brutal operation in Rastan region near Homs city in order to find and arrest me. They claimed that they arrested me at the end of the operation,” Asaad said. “Such stories aim to demoralize the Syrian people.” Meanwhile, France and Sweden Tuesday warned Assad's regime against attacking or intimidating Syrian opposition in exile, amid reports of assaults and threats in European capitals. Global rights watchdog Amnesty International said Syrian pro-democracy activists had been harrassed in eight countries, as France confirmed it had launched an investigation after thugs attacked a protest in Paris. A foreign ministry spokesman said arrests had been made and extra police protection assigned to Syrian opposition protests after the August 26 attack. “We would not tolerate a foreign state organising acts of violence or intimidation on our territory, and we have made this known in the clearest possible terms to Syria's ambassador in Paris,” Bernard Valero said. “The right to protest freely and peacefully in safety is fully guaranteed by the French constitution, and it is also obvious that France supports the Syrian people's hopes for freedom,” he said. “An inquiry is under way, and we hope that it will come quickly to an conclusion,” he added. According to the French daily Le Monde, a small group of Syrian protesters that gathers regularly in a square in central Paris has been insulted, filmed and on at least one occasion violently attacked by thugs.
