Syrian President accuses West of hypocrisy, says they negotiate secretly

Syrian President Bashar Assad has alleged that Western nations opposing his regime, secretly send security officials to collaborate with his government

President Assad's in an interview on Friday said "This is the double standard of the West in general: They attack us politically and they send us their officials to deal with us under the table, especially the security, including your government."

"They all do the same. They don't want to upset the United States. Actually, most of the Western officials, they only repeat what the United States wants them to say. This is the reality," he added.

Assad also said that while he had no dialogue directly with the U.S., there was indirect communication between the countries through back channels, including "businessmen going (and) traveling around the world and meeting with the officials in the United States and in Europe," reports Tolo News.

"But there's nothing serious because we don't think the American administration, is serious about solving the problem in Syria," Assad added.

He also said he has no opposition to working with the U.S., but criticized America for creating problems that it fails to solve.

"(Former President George W.) Bush invaded Iraq; in a few weeks, he could occupy Iraq. But then what's next? It's not about occupying. This is a great power. We're not a great power," Assad said.

"So, it's not about America occupying Syria. What's next? What do they want to achieve? They haven't achieved anything. They have failed in Libya, in Iraq, in Yemen, in Syria, everywhere. They only created chaos.

So, if the United States wants to create more chaos, it can ... but can they solve the problem? No."

Assad said he wasn't concerned about a recent internal memo from more than 50 U.S. State Department officials urging U.S. military action against Syria's government. The diplomats who signed the "dissent channel cable" said that targeted U.S. attacks could increase leverage over Assad in diplomatic negotiations that have repeatedly failed.

"Warmongers in every American administration always exist," Assad said.