Updated Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 05:59 AM
Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad says he will not leave his country.
In an interview with Russia TV, Assad said he will `live and die' in Syria.
His comments come two days after British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that Assad could be allowed safe passage out of the country if that would guarantee an end to the nation's civil war.
Assad spoke in English with Russia Today TV. Excerpts of the interview were posted on the TV station's website on Thursday, with an Arabic voiceover.
Assad says he is not a puppet of the West.
He says: "I am Syrian, made in Syria, and I will live and die in Syria."
MUSTAFA KARALI / AP
In this Sunday, Nov. 4 photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter fires his weapon while running for cover in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo, Syria.
