Syrian opposition figure says Assad, family 'will be killed like Gaddafi'

Damascus, Jan 31 (ANI): Syrian President Bashar al Assad and his family will meet a bloody end like former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi', as his regime falls from power, a leading member of the opposition movement has warned.

Haitham Maleh, a member of the executive committee of the Syrian National Council, said that Assad had forfeited any chance of a peaceful exit from Syria as a result of his regime's brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

He predicted that Assad, British wife Asma and three children would be killed in revenge for his failure to respond positively to peaceful demands for change.

"Assad and his family will be killed in Syria, their next steps will be very bloody," The Telegraph quoted Maleh, as saying.

"Two months ago we offered him the option to leave us alone and go but instead he went for the blood of his people. The end for him will be that he is killed like Gaddafi," he added.

According to the UN estimates, over 5,000 have died on both sides of Syrian fighting as the regime uses tanks, shell fire and sniper units to snuff out protests.

Maleh stressed that very soon 'two armies' would be clashing around Syria as the security forces desert the regime enmasse.

"Most of the army will separate off from the Assad troops to protect their people. Maher is particularly brutal, he will go out and shoot people himself, the ordinary troops don't want this," the paper quoted Maleh, as saying.

Maleh, who has spent decades in Syrian prisons for his human rights activism, rebuffed Russian attempts to broker talks with the regime to end spiralling violence.

"Talks will not happen. How can we have dialogue with a criminal regime, we can't do it now," Maleh said.

"The game is over. How can we talk with a person who has put a pistol to our heads. It is impossible to make dialogue with this person," he added. (ANI)