LIVE: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad makes a rare public address
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused a foreign conspiracy to try to destabilize Syria.
He said the "external conspiracy is clear to everyone", as protests continue against his regime.
In his first public speech for months, he said, "regional and international sides, tried to destabilize the country."
The UN said last month that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed since protests began in March last year.
Suppression of President Assad on protests led to international condemnation and sanctions.
A team of 165 monitors the Arab League has been in Syria since December to monitor the implementation of a peace plan that calls for an end to all violence, the withdrawal of heavy weapons of the cities and the release of all political prisoners.
Critical of the regional grouping - which suspended Syria in November and imposed sanctions - Mr Assad said: "We were surprised Arabs are not with Syria.""No reform snap '
He said that Arab countries oppose Syria were under pressure from outside which undermined their sovereignty.
But, he said, Syria would not "shut down" for an Arab solution as "it respects the sovereignty of Syria."
Opposition groups have accused the mission of the Arab League be used to cover the repression of demonstrations.
Assad described the events of the last 10 months of regret and said they had been a serious test for Syria.
But he ruled out the reform pressure in response to the agitation.
He said the "external conspiracy is clear to everyone", as protests continue against his regime.
In his first public speech for months, he said, "regional and international sides, tried to destabilize the country."
The UN said last month that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed since protests began in March last year.
Suppression of President Assad on protests led to international condemnation and sanctions.
A team of 165 monitors the Arab League has been in Syria since December to monitor the implementation of a peace plan that calls for an end to all violence, the withdrawal of heavy weapons of the cities and the release of all political prisoners.
Critical of the regional grouping - which suspended Syria in November and imposed sanctions - Mr Assad said: "We were surprised Arabs are not with Syria.""No reform snap '
He said that Arab countries oppose Syria were under pressure from outside which undermined their sovereignty.
But, he said, Syria would not "shut down" for an Arab solution as "it respects the sovereignty of Syria."
Opposition groups have accused the mission of the Arab League be used to cover the repression of demonstrations.
Assad described the events of the last 10 months of regret and said they had been a serious test for Syria.
But he ruled out the reform pressure in response to the agitation.
"We need to connect what happened before the crisis and post crisis and then embark on the reform ... We should not build our reforms of this crisis," he said.
The government says it fight against the armed groups, and nearly 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed so far.
In recent months, army deserters joined the opposition and government forces targeted.
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