Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Syrian Reform Activist Calls Assad Ouster Inevitable Ammar Abdulhamid says protesters have broken the barrier of fear and that President Assadâs removal is a matter of âwhen,â not âifâ. VOA News | Washington March 30, 2011 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad addresses the country's parliament in Damascus, March 30, 2011 Photo: Reuters Syrian President Bashar al-Assad addresses the country's parliament in Damascus, March 30, 2011 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a speech before parliament and the nation today, blamed foreigners and social media for creating a "conspiracy" to bring down his regime. His address came amid deadly opposition protests representing the most serious threat to Assad's 11-year-rule and the long-standing authority of his family. More than 160 people died as a result of a government crackdown on demonstrators in recent weeks. To better understand what has been driving the apparent change of attitude toward Assadâs rule, we spoke to Syrian reform activist Ammar Abdulhamid, who has been meeting with members of the U.S. Congress this week in Washington. The interview, conducted by VOA's Mohamed Elshinnawi, was recorded before President Assadâs speech. [Listen to the full interview with Syrian reform activist Ammar Abdulhamid:] Elshinnawi: How would you describe the situation in Syria today? Abdulhamid: The situation is really both full of promise and a little dread as well. A promise, because the barrier of fear has been broken. The young people of Syria, the young demographic, have decided to take over the initiative and to dictate the pace of change rather than wait for the old establishment or the opposition or the government under Bashar Assad to reform. They decided to force the issue, to take to the streets and break the barrier of fear and make their demands known. That is really the source and the seed of the victory to come, because thatâs inevitable. That is something that is going to happen; we have no doubt about that. It is a matter of âwhen,â not a matter of âif.â The dread is â how much will we need to sacrifice, how long will it take, how much blood will be spilled because of the regimeâs entrenched authoritarian style and tactics. View our interview with Ammar Abdulhamid IFRAME: [1]http://www.youtube.com/embed/v14k2EFwgrU Elshinnawi: Does the announcement of the Syrian governmentâs resignation indicate that Assadâs government is weakening? Abdulhamid: Of course. It took us two weeks to achieve what years and years of begging and petitioning did not accomplish. Two weeks of protests toppled the government, and I think that Assad staged these pro-government demonstrations [Tuesday] in order to put a brave face on a concession that he is making. But what he does not understand is that this is not enough anyway, and regardless of how [many] concessions he is willing to make, the only concession that will satisfy us is his resignation or he can stand trial. He is no longer wanted. The people have said it, they have torn down his posters; they tore down a statue of his father. The symbols of power and legitimacy of the Assad dynasty are being scuffed and torn up in the streets in many cities. We have two cities in full rebellion right now. And they are staging [their protests] peacefully. The only violence is coming from the direction of the authorities, but it is not workingâ¦. Elshinnawi: Do you think that the Syrian opposition is strong enough to continue and to reach the level of regime change? Abdulhamid: What you have to understand, the people that began this are not the opposition. They are young people, activists and revolutionaries in the streets. And, so far, this movement has proven to be very contagious. And the current [pro-Assad] demonstrations that the regime has orchestrated, we know how they happen. They force students, university students to take part, they force public sector employees to take part, but on the day after a lot of anger takes place. A lot of people feel really sickened by being forced to do things like thisâ¦. People are producing an alternative not only to the regime, but an alternative to the stale opposition. So now, the opposition that has been existing for a long time in the streets wants to have some relevance, they have to play âcatch-upâ with the people. Elshinnawi: How do you see the U.S. reaction to the Syrian government using violence against peaceful protesters compared with the U.S. position in the past with Egypt or even Yemen? Abdulhamid: In a sense, [Secretary of State Hillary] Clintonâs reaction, in particular, was a bit upsetting. She [used] the word âreformerâ when talking about President [Assad]. [Then] she calibrated her statement at a press conference saying that she was actually quoting some people in Congressâ¦. A few days ago [Secretary of Defense Robert] Gates said something about how the president of Syria should look to the examples of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, and learn from that. These were far more positive and promising remarks because they hinted at the possibility that [President Assad] should really learn that the international community will not wait around and watch for Assad to slaughter his own peopleâ¦. [Listen to the soundfile above for the full interview] Follow our Middle East reports on [2]Twitter and discuss them on our [3]Facebook page. References 1. http://www.youtube.com/embed/v14k2EFwgrU 2. http://twitter.com/VOAMidEast 3. http://www.facebook.com/pages/VOAMiddleEastVoices/124360240958667? v=wall .