Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed a foreign conspiracy for trying to destabilise Syria.
He said the "external conspiracy is clear to everybody", as protests continue against his rule.
In his first public remarks for months, he said: "Regional and international sides have tried to destabilise the country."
The UN said last month that more than 5,000 civilians have been killed since protests began in March last year.
President Assad's crackdown on the protests has led to international condemnation and sanctions.
A team of 165 monitors from the Arab League has been in Syria since December to monitor implementation of a peace plan that calls for an end to all violence, the removal of heavy weapons from cities and the release of all political prisoners.
The Arab League suspended Syria in November and imposed sanctions.
Criticising the regional grouping, Mr Assad said: "We were surprised Arabs did not stand with Syria".
He said Arab countries that opposed Syria were under outside pressure which was undermining their sovereignty.
But, he added, Syria would not "close its doors" to an Arab solution as long as "it respects Syria's sovereignty".
Mr Assad described the events of the past 10 months as regretful and said they had been a serious test for Syria.
However he ruled out snap reform in response to the unrest.
"We should link what happened before the crisis and post crisis and then embark on reform... We shouldn't build our reforms on this crisis," he said.
But really, after months of protest, what is President Assad's situation? Is he becoming desperate and ready to be kicked out, or is he still as strong as ever?
Life sucks and is probably meaningless, but that doesn't mean there's no reason to be good.
The "foreign conspiracy" is that his people have found out that theirs is not the Greatest Country Evah and other places do things differently, so they're tired of the same old shit and oppression. Obviously, it's the fault of other people that in some cases the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence. We should just tell the Syrians whenever we interact with them how terrible it is outside their nation and how they're the luckiest people on earth so they won't have that silly impulse to try to make their lives better by changing a corrupt government.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
If it wasn't for all those Tunisians, Libyans & Egyptians thinking they would be better off without their own precious dictators Assad wouldn't have any problems with his own ungrateful proles.
I thought Roman candles meant they were imported. - Kelly Bundy
12 yards long, two lanes wide it's 65 tons of American pride, Canyonero! - Simpsons
Support the KKK environmental program - keep the Arctic white!
