Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview that he doubts Al Qaeda exists. “Is there really an entity called Al Qaeda? Was it in Afghanistan? Does it exist now?” Assad said, according to Sunday’s edition of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba.

Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born Islamic extremist who heads Al Qaeda, “cannot talk on the phone or use the Internet, but he can direct communications to the four corners of the world?” Assad asked rhetorically. “This is illogical.”

Washington has accused Syria of backing international terrorists.