Tunisia prepared to grant al-Assad asylum

Tunisian president Moncef al-Marzouki said that country was prepared to grant Syrian president Bashar al-Assad asylum. In an interview with BBC broadcast on Friday, Marzouki said that Tunisia has a moral responsibility towards the Syrian people and that he cannot accept that 100 people are killed every day by the regime. He also called for a halt  to the bloodshed. In answer to a question about whether he sees the Syrian president as a murderer, Marzouki agreed. “If we want to stop the killing the only way is to follow the Yemeni lead: that the president steps down and flees to a safe haven elsewhere” he said. Furthermore, “If the price of peace in Syria is to give its president a safe refuge, why not?”  According to Marzouki he  suggested to Russia that they could harbor him but the Russian response was: “Why don't you Tunisians, take him?” reiterating that “If that was the price, I am willing to pay, regardless of how high the cost might be. We will accept it because Syrian lives are more important than justice.” Regarding a question about whether there was official contact between Tunisia and the Syrian government, Marzouki said he didn't think that the Syrian government and Al-Assad would actually ask for asylum in Tunisia but , he emphasised, "if that was the price to stop the killing, then Tunisia is ready." As to what he felt the outcome of an armed intervention in Syria would be, Marzouki predicted that if an armed intervention was conducted in Syria, a civil war would erupt, not only in Syria, but in the whole region. He said he wished that the Syrian revolution "resembled that of the Tunisian one" which he described as "peaceful and democratic.“ We should re-examine ways to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.”he added. In answer to a question about the former Tunisian president Ben Ali who was given refuge by the Saudi Kingdom Marzouki replied that ”The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will  never hand over Ben Ali to Tunisia: we triemany times to bring him back “We will probably keep exerting pressure on the Kingdom but they are unlikely to accept due to their own rules and traditions. We do not want to disturb our social and economic ties with Saudi Arabia over this.”