Louay Safi, the spokesman for the Syrian Coalition, described Bashar al-Assad’s remarks that he has “fighters in the ranks of the opposition,” as “futile attempts aimed at undermining trust between the fighters who are advancing on his troops and shabiha in many Syrian cities.” Safi went on: “Assad’s comments confirms our suspicions of a link between the regime and some armed units whose practices are inconsistent with the objectives of the revolution and serve the Assad regime, which seeks to justify the killing of the Syrians in front of the international community under the pretext of fighting terrorism.” Safi described Assad’s request of the Jordanian government to help him in his fight against the Syrian people in the border city of Dara’a as “reflecting the smweakness of his military forces and its gradual collapse in front of the revolutionaries.” Safi’s statements came during a speech to the Friends of the Syrian people in the United Nations in which he said that “the phenomenon of extremism is alien to the Syrian people and some extremist groups have been created and supported by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, who has been overseeing their creation, arming and tasking them with carrying out its plans in the areas that got out of its control.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)