Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday, March 30 that Syria is the target of a "conspiracy" to sow sectarian strife, but some Syrians who have demonstrated against his rule had legitimate demands.

"We cannot say that everyone who went out (in the streets) is a conspirator. Let us be clear about that," Assad told a session of parliament, in the first public comments since protests erupted in southern Syria and spread to the center and the coast, Reuters reports.