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Following are excerpts from an interview with pro-Bashar Al-Assad actress Raghda, which aired on Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV, August 18, 2011:
Raghda: The Arab region in its entirety has been under a microscope for a long time, since the 1973 war. We are going through a very delicate phase. The Zionists asked the most senior Israeli: When will the Arabs come to an end? He answered: When the Arabs hate one another more than they hate Israel. That is what is happening today. Israel, or Palestine, is the central issue. Everything that is happening is to the benefit of Israel. One day, the great Hafez Al-Assad, may he rest in peace… And [Bashar] is the son of Al-Assad, and we love him and we stick by him…
Interviewer: So today, you support President Bashar Al-Assad, against the backdrop of what is happening in Syria?
Raghda: Yes, I support him in the face of any foreign intervention. But this does not mean that I support corruption, or some leaders who harm…
Interviewer: You don't think that what is happening in Syria today is the desire of the Syrian people for change?
Raghda: No. What change?!
[…]
I support my president, because he is an Arab, facing foreign intervention.
Interviewer: What, former president Hosni Mubarak wasn't an Arab?
Raghda: I am not talking about that. There was no foreign intervention in Egypt, but in Syria, they want to do what they did in Libya. If my president…
Interviewer: There was no foreign intervention in Egypt?
Raghda: If Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi were my president, I would support him and oppose what is happening in Libya today. What do you say about that?
Interviewer: Despite all the casualties…
Raghda: Listen to me, who are the casualties?
Interviewer: Who? The Libyans?
Raghda: Brother, don't mix up the facts. I'm telling you, for one thing…
Interviewer: Raghda, this proves what I said earlier: You support Arab presidents because of personal friendships. You are a friend of Al-Qadhafi…
Raghda: Me, a friend of Al-Qadhafi?!
Interviewer: You were a friend of Saddam Hussein…
Raghda: It would have been an honor for me to be friends with Al-Qadhafi, but I never met him in my life. True, I met Saddam Hussein, King Hassan, King Hussein, and all the kings. We are in the public eye. I've met the president of Yemen…
Interviewer: Do you support Ali Abdallah Saleh or the revolution against him?
Raghda: Listen to me…
Interviewer: I'm asking you a question.
Is that you in the photo?
Raghda: That's me. Why?
Interviewer: In the photo you are shaking hands with the Yemeni president. Are you for or against Ali Abdallah Saleh today?
Raghda: I support any Arab president who opposes foreign intervention. Let his people hold him accountable in the end.
Interviewer: Only in Egypt there was no foreign intervention?
Raghda: I don't know. No, there wasn't. Was there foreign intervention in Egypt?
[…]