MINSK. May 12 (Interfax) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he does not make any distinction between terrorists of Islamic State (ISIL) and Jabhat al-Nusra (terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia) fighting in Syria and sees them as an instrument of the West.
"We do not make any distinction between them. Both ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra have the same Wahhabi ideology, namely the ideology of terror. These people are an instrument in the hands of the U.S. It is there [in the U.S.] where their directors and sponsors are present," al-Assad said in an interview with the Belarusian TV channel ONT after being asked against whom Syria is fighting.
"I will not add Europe here because it does not play a major role on the world's political map. But Europe unquestioningly does what the U.S. tells it to do," he said.
The war that the Syrian people are waging "is not only a war against terrorism here, in Syria, but it is also a war against those who support it," al-Assad said.
"Terror is just an instrument for some Western countries. They want to establish the same world dominance as the Nazis, enslaving peoples and whole countries. Terror is both an instrument and a result of such a policy," the Syrian president said.