Syria's Assad backs Iraqi resistance

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called radical Islamic insurgents fighting coalition troops in Iraq a legitimate resistance.

"Certainly, what has happened on the popular level gives legitimacy to the resistance and shows that the major part of what is happening is resistance," Assad said in comments aired on the Qatar-based Arabic-language satellite channel al-Jazeera.

The interview will be broadcast in full Saturday on an "open dialogue" program.

It was the first time Assad publicly admitted his view of the Iraqi resistance, said the exiled opposition group Reform Party of Syria.

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The party, based in Washington, D.C., said "Middle East experts" regard the president's remarks as a "declaration of war" because Damascus has sent Syrians to fight the U.S. in Fallujah.

Relations between Syria and the U.S. already are tense with Damascus on the State Department's list of terrorist-sponsoring nations and pressure from Washington to curb terrorism in the region.

The U.S.-led forces are battling threats from both Sunni Muslim guerrillas in Fallujah, near Baghdad, and Shiite fighters in the south.

"You are talking now about resistance which is against the occupation forces," Assad said in the interview.

Asked if the resistance was legitimate, he said: "Well, of course, it's understood that way."