Assad Compares Paris Terror to Plight of Syria

(FNA)- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad condemned the string of coordinated terrorist attacks that killed at least 150 people in and around the French capital of Paris.

"What France suffered from – savage terror – is what the Syrian people have been enduring for over five years," he said on Saturday, hours after the attacks in France, press tv reported.

The attacks in France were carried out late on Friday, when assailants struck at least six different venues in and around the French capital.

President Assad added in a meeting with a delegation of French lawmakers in the Syrian capital of Damascus that "mistaken policies" adopted by Paris have contributed to the "spread of terrorism" that led to the latest terror attacks in the European country.

The Syrian leader further said that Paris terrorist attacks cannot be separated from the bombings that took place in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Thursday and from what Syria has been enduring for the past five years.

On Thursday, a twin blasts claimed by ISIL Takfiri terrorists took 44 lives in the Southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Syrian president said that he has warned against "what would happen in Europe for the past three years," but added that the European leaders did not heed his warnings.

"We said, don't take what is happening in Syria lightly. Unfortunately, European officials did not listen."

He also urged French President Francois Hollande to change his policy. "The question that is being asked throughout France today is, was France's policy over the past five years the right one? The answer is no."

The French president has said the Paris attacks were an "act of war" carried out by the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group.

Since March 2011, Syria has been beset by foreign-backed militancy, which has so far claimed the lives of over 250,000 people and displaced millions of others.

The militancy in the Arab country has intensified due to the activities of militants groups, including ISIL.

France is among the western countries that have been supporting the militants fighting against the Syrian government. As part of a US-led coalition, the country has also been conducting air raids against what it alleges to be ISIL positions in the violence-scarred Arab country.

Assad complained back in May that the so-called coalition against ISIL does not aim to "do away" with the terror group, adding, "They want to use this terrorist structure for threatening and blackmailing other countries."

Also on Saturday, ISIL released an undated video, threatening to attack France as long as the aerial campaign continued.

"As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear traveling to the market," said an ISIL member in the footage.