Syria's Assad says truce is 'glimmer of hope': German TV

BERLIN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the cessation of hostilities in force since Saturday was a "glimmer of hope," in an interview with German television to be aired on Tuesday. "We will play our part to make the whole thing work," he was quoted as saying in an extract of a 25-minute interview with broadcaster ARD's Weltspiegel Extra program to be aired in full later. The interview was conducted in English but ARD released his quotes in German. The cessation of hostilities agreement, the first of its kind since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, is a less formal arrangement than a ceasefire and is meant to allow peace talks to resume and aid to reach besieged communities. According to ARD, Assad offered opposition fighters an amnesty and a possible "return to normal civilian life" provided they give up their weapons. He said people living in Syria were suffering a "humanitarian disaster". ARD said Assad disputed that his troops would cut off areas run by the opposition from receiving food and medicine and said the Syrian army was being attacked from these areas. "How are we supposed to cut off these areas from deliveries of food if we can't stop the procurement of weapons," ARD quoted him as saying. He acknowledged that the country was no longer "completely sovereign". That is why Syria needed military help from Russia, Iran and Lebanon, ARD reported him as saying. "They came not to defend us but to defend themselves" Assad was quoted as saying. Assad was reported as welcoming Germany's policy of accepting refugees but raised the question as to whether it would not be smarter and "less costly" to help Syrians live in their own country. But Western countries would have to decide to fight against terrorism and not against his country, ARD reported him as saying. Syrian state media quoted Assad as telling ARD the Syrian army had refrained from responding to truce violations in order to give the cessation of hostilities agreement a chance. "The terrorists have breached the deal from the first day. We as the Syrian army are refraining from responding in order to give a chance to sustain the agreement and that is what we can do. But in the end there are limits and it all depends on the other side." (Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny; Editing by Paul Carrel and Janet Lawrence)