Assad: Syria Can't Cope With Scale Of Earthquake Disaster

Dictator Bashar al-Assad has warned Syria cannot cope with the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake centred on southern Turkey as he thanked other nations for their support.

- Alastair Jamieson

"The scale of the disaster and the duties we must undertake are much greater than available resources," the president said in his first televised address since the disaster struck. His government says the death toll in the territory it controls is 1,414 but more than 4,000 fatalities have been reported in the rebel-held northwest. Almost 40,000 have been confirmed killed in Turkey so far.

The catastrophic quake could ease Assad's international isolation after more than 11 years of civil war, with aid pouring in mostly from Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, which had funded the armed opposition to his government. Assad said the disaster presented "an opportunity" to deal with issues that had built up in the country, which is also dealing with a deep economic crisis, and thanked states that provided aid, including "Arab brothers and friends."