Syria conflict: BBC exclusive interview with president Bashar al-Assad (FULL)

Subscribe to BBC News Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has defended his government’s actions in the region since the uprising against his rule, which erupted in 2011. In an exclusive interview with the BBC’s Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen, Mr Assad denied that his forces had dropped barrel bombs indiscriminately on rebel-held areas, killing thousands of civilians, and dismissed as propaganda a statement by the UN that his government often blocks access to besieged areas for relief